Avoid buying conflict diamonds - CanadaMark & GIA certificate copy of 1.02 carat, G-color, IF-clarity Diamond

How to buy ‘conflict-free’ diamonds or avoid ‘blood diamonds’ when purchasing a diamond in Bangkok, Thailand?

AVOID BUYING CONFLICT DIAMONDS IN BANGKOK, THAILAND

An important issue which has been affecting the diamond trade (and many other commodities) since the beginning is how diamonds have contributed in funding conflicts like civil wars, genocide and terrorism.

With the power of media and internet we can now see many articles, documentaries and famous movies discussing this worrying issue – i.e. like Leonardo Dicaprio ‘Blood Diamond’ movie.

I am actually glad this important issue has come up as it has exposed the dark-side of the diamond trade which for years has been ignored.  However like any discussion regarding negative issues, only one side of story gets focused on and other side gets ignored.

AVOID BUYING CONFLICT DIAMOND – DIAMOND TRADE IS NOT ALL BAD

Diamonds do also contribute in positive ways to many countries GDP, employ skilled laborers who require money like miners & diamond cutters and create industries like diamond dealers, wholesalers and retailers.

Of course there are always going to be bad people out there, but I do believe majority of people are good or have good intentions, so we should not hurt them due to handful of bad people.

So, how should an end-consumer like yourself make sure that the diamond you are acquiring is in fact from ‘conflict-free zones’ or not ‘blood diamonds’?

Is there a way to make sure the diamonds you are getting are not sponsoring these horrific acts?

Fortunately, in today’s diamond market, the answer is YES, there is a way to make sure you can get ‘conflict-free’ diamonds and I hope to cover it in today’s blog post.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF THE DIAMOND YOU BOUGHT IS CONFLICT FREE?

AVOID BUYING CONFLICT DIAMOND – KIMBERLY PROCESS

To get rid of conflict diamonds in the trade, in 2002 the Kimberley Process was established by coalition of governments, NGOs and the diamond industry.

To read more about this process I do recommend visiting this website which provides live up to date information: http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/.

Though this process has been established 14 years ago there are still issues of conflict diamonds being mixed with non-conflict diamonds.  GIA does have a strict requirement of not accepting diamond rough or partial rough without the proper Kimberly process papers.

However, once the diamond is cut they do accept diamonds in for grading so having GIA certificate does not guarantee that the diamond is conflict free.

AVOID BUYING CONFLICT DIAMONDS – TRACE DIAMOND BACK TO MANUFACTURER

So, the only way for the end consumer to know if the diamond is 100% conflict free is to demand the company (retailer, trader or wholesaler) to know where the diamond is sourced from.

Only by tracing the diamond back to the manufacturer who acquired the rough diamond can the company tell if the diamond is conflict-free or not.

This process is actually called ‘due diligence’ and you can read more here: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/conflict-diamonds/#more

AVOID BUYING CONFLICT DIAMONDS – ASK POINTED QUESTIONS

Example of pointed questions you should ask the jeweler, diamond dealer or retailer you are dealing with is provided below:

  1. How can I know for sure that these are non-conflict diamonds?
  2. Do you know where the diamond you are selling comes from or from whom?

If the above questions are not answered ‘confidently’ or ‘sincerely’ most probably the person you are dealing with has not thought about these issues and will therefore, not know where the diamond is from.

Unfortunately, I would say in general, majority of diamond jewelers, retailers and dealers in Bangkok (or in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia or other East Asia countries) will fall in this category as they don’t directly deal with the diamond manufacturers and deal only with other diamond wholesalers.

Only a responsible company will make sure who they are dealing with and will try their best to make sure they are not trading conflict diamonds.

CanadaMark Diamonds are 100% conflict free diamonds

Fortunately, there are diamonds in the trade that have additional certification which tracks the diamond from source to cut and they are called CanadaMark diamonds.

These diamonds are mined in the northeastern region of Canada.  You can read more about this on this website: http://www.canadamark.com/

Our company in fact sourced a ‘CanadaMark’ diamond recently as the clients’ fiancée works in Human rights organization and was adamant that they know exactly where the diamond came from.

With a CanadaMark diamond you will get an additional laser inscription on the diamond to identify it and will also let you know how much the ‘diamond rough’ weight was before the diamond is cut (how cool!).

Anyways, I have provided below actual pictures I took of my clients’ diamond so you can get an idea how a CanadaMark diamond will look like.

CONCLUSION

Diamonds are sourced in many countries in the world and you can check the list in this Wikipedia list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diamond_mines.

As stated in the wiki page the 50 largest mines contributes to 90% of the global diamond supply.  Unfortunately the only mine which give rough diamond certification is currently the Canadian mine, even though there other Non-African mines like in Russia or Australia.
Please note that all African mines are not bad either like Botswana or South Africa, which has contributed positively to the community and country.

So in conclusion, I do recommend before your next diamond purchase to make sure you are comfortable with the company or person you are dealing with.

By asking the pointed questions stated above, I do believe you can avoid purchasing any conflict or blood diamonds and enjoy the eternity white beauty with your love one.

Thai Native Gems – Conflict free diamond clause –

We at Thai Native Gems try our best to check the companies we deal with have a ‘conflict-free’ diamonds clause. Also, we only deal with companies that follow Kimberly Process. We check by looking at the company’s mission statement or manifesto.

As we truly believe in eradicating these horrible acts in the diamond trade. We will with the best of our ability and knowledge not trade or get any conflict or blood diamonds.

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Thai Native Gems Diamond Search & Custom Engagement Ring service:

If you are in the market looking for the best diamond and custom hand made engagement ring.  Contact Us.  Let us know what your budget is and what you are looking for.

From this initial information, we will swiftly find and email you 4 to 5 center diamond options.  Unlike other traditional or online dealers, I am not looking to sell you anything. But will provide you honest, frank and objective opinion in what we think is best in the budget you offer.

This service is free, and there absolutely no commitment to buy any of our suggestions. The only thing you have to do is not respond to our email and you won’t hear from us again! So, you truly have nothing to lose!

How do we compile this diamond list?  Our search process is provided below:

1) We first will contact our local diamond supply network and check if there are any stones that fit your requirement in Bangkok. We have over 50 contacts in Bangkok and will check ALL to make sure we can provide you the best deal.

2) If not satisfied, we will then check online through our extensive global network sifting through over 900,000+ diamonds. and will find you the best diamond. The only setback when choosing the diamond from this global list is, it can take one to two weeks to arrive to Bangkok.

What type engagement rings can you make and how are they made?

1) We usually set our engagement rings in 18k yellow or white gold or 950 platinum settings.  Our rings are all hand-crafted and made by highly skilled Thai craftsmen.

Examples in some of the rings we made you can see on our YouTube channel and shown below:

YouTube Channel PLAY LIST


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Contact us today to get all your wholesale gemstones, diamonds and jewelry needs.  We can Source, Search and Supply anything you require.   
What will you get if you contact us

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  • Get wholesale and highly competitive prices of gemstones & diamonds from anywhere through our extensive network of contacts around the world
  • All stones sold by us is verified in house by our GIA Graduate Gemologist or certified
  • We provide personalized service and NOT the same old “One Size Fits All” Approach

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