Diamonds Are for Never?

The New York Times today has an article about growing awareness of the diamond industry by the engaged (or soon-to-be engaged), and the impact of the new movie "Blood Diamond" on the industry. "Blood Diamond" stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The CS Monitor has a review of the film, called "Star-studded, flawed diamond," as well as an accompanying article, "The sordid history behind Africa's conflict diamonds."

Even more eco-concious jewelry options

• Vintage jewelers are a good options because it's re-using what's already been mined. Check out Antique Jewelry Mall
  
• UK jeweler Harriet Kelsall is a member of the Council of Responsible Jewelry Practices

And in case you want to read more discussion, the wedding blog Manolo for the Brides has a post called "What's Love Worth?" - does how much one spend on a ring represent one's love? There's also an interesting discussion on diamond engagement rings at the Vegan Represent Forum.

Conflict-free diamond jewelry

I'm really surprised by both the number and the type of responses I get for my desire for an ecologically- and socially-responsible ring. They've ranged from "that's so cool!" to "this is your insurance from your husband! You should get something that you can always sell if you need money!"

I mean, wedding rings are a personal decision, so I was surprised to hear so many people weighing in. I'm still doing research on platinum, but it looks like metals mining is a messy business. Among the controversies out there are a Canadian mining firm that's trying to displace farmers in Nigeria to mine platinum. Thankfully, more and more organizations are springing up to ensure that metals for jewelry come from recycled sources, or are mined with sensitivity to the local community, including rehabilitating the environment afterwards.

So, if it is diamonds that you must have, here's another resource:
Brilliant Earth - fair trade comes to jewelry.

With this ring, I thee wed

According to The Knot, I should be well on my way looking for wedding bands. And, what is a traditional Western wedding ceremony without the wedding bands? However, after reading in the National Resources Defence Council's June 2005 issue of This Green Life about dirty gold, I couldn't consciouly want a traditional wedding band. According to the No Dirty Gold website:

Gold mining is a dirty industry: it can displace communities, contaminate drinking water, hurt workers, and destroy pristine environments.

It seems like the problems with gold apply to other metal mining operations as well, so that also rules out platinum. What to do? The NRDC and other green wedding planning sites recommend:

buying vintage have existing jewelry that you have and no longer wear refashioned buying recycled gold from online retailer Green Karat or Sumiche Jewelry. Dear Abi recently sent me a link to another online retailer, Cred Jewelry (this one is in the UK).

Of course, these ecologically- and socially-responsible rings look just as beautiful as conventional rings. According to the New York Times, buying from Chicago-based Leber Jeweler's Earthwise line is another option. And most of Tiffany's gold is mined without using cyanide.

And then, there are...wooden rings! I immediately fell in love with these rings from Touchwood Rings:



A simple search on for "wooden wedding rings" on Google will yield lots of options, including:

• Artistree
  
• craftsman's Etsy store
  (also known as Chicago Joinery)
  
• Wooden Rings and Things
  

I also love the rings at Tropical Grains, but I need to do research to see if titanium is okay.


There's also this directory from the International Commitment Ceremonies Registrar. It's nice to know there are so many choices for ethical rings.