Why I will Never want a Diamond...

To many women the thought of receiving a diamond engagement ring is the happiest moment of their life. However if a man ever got down on one knee and popped open a box with a diamond ring I'd probably shove it down his throat. Many people out there have seen the movie Blood Diamond and though that film does depict some of the tragedy that the diamond industry has inflicted on the African continent it does not explain how cut up pressurized coal became to represent love in the Western world.

If the thought of the infinite number of human rights violations associated with diamond mines or the illegal trafficking of diamonds through conflict regions doesn't convince you to go against tradition then maybe the fact that the tradition of giving diamonds is younger than the establishment of this country.

The diamond industry has through manipulation of the market by controlling supply and creating false demand by creating some of the most impressive marketing campaigns in the history of advertising. Men used to propose with emeralds, rubies, and sapphires when they wanted to impress their bride-to-be. Now men are informed that they need to spend anywhere between 1 to 3 months of their salary on a diamond ring. When did that become etiquette? Who made that tradition?

This overblown consumerist tradition of diamond engagement rings creates opportunities for violence in a part of the world that in my opinion could use a little less. The most we've been able to accomplish is to get jewelers to verify that their stock is not from conflict areas but it is almost impossible to maintain certainty of origin in a continent with so little political organization between countries as well as within. Not to mention that is is only very well to do retailers that can usually produce paperwork for the origin of a diamond leaving lower-income couples the struggle between desiring the custom of a diamond ring but with the knowledge that the ring may have a second price of blood that was paid for it.

As for me I have made the choice not to conform not only because of the civil and economic strife the stone represents but also because I refuse to allow myself to buy or receive a product purely do to it's amazing PR.