Finally saw the movie Blood Diamond last night. Have a question...

[Haole Girl]

Did you ever request "Conflict-Free" diamonds?

http://www.conflictfreediamonds.org

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. I don't buy diamonds.

I don't really find them all that interesting - I like opals and sapphires and onyx. Love onyx. Yummy. Especially with sapphires.

[Haole Girl]

2. I have to be honest...

I've always found rare diamonds to be very interesting...especially pink ones. That is, I guess, one reason that movie has bothered me...even today. :-(

[MonkeyFunk]

3. No

I like my diamonds to have a little fight in 'em.

[Haole Girl]

5. I don't know...

having just seen the movie, with it so fresh in my mind, it's hard for me to see the humor in that. Just me, I guess. :shrug:

No need to tell me to "lighten up" because I'm sure I'm the only one who found your response offensive.

[ghostsofgiants]

4. I don't own any diamonds but if I was to purchase a diamond at any point it would be conflict-free.

[Haole Girl]

6. Good to know

:hi:

[ghostsofgiants]

12. I'm very conscious of such things.

[SallyMander]

7. Another good opportunity for me to recommend moissanite!

I posted about it here (with pic) : http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7724098#7724727

It's eco-friendly and people-friendly and gorgeous and sparkly. :D

[Haole Girl]

8. Thanks!

Pretty ring! Thanks for passing along the info! :hi:

[SallyMander]

17. Thanks KC2!

I'm totally smitten with the ring... i just ordered a band to go along with it, so i'll be all bling'd out in a few months! :D

[DarkTirade]

11. And most importantly... sparkly. :P

[SallyMander]

16. Well, duh!

:eyes:



:P

[Flaxbee]

9. I have a few small pieces of diamond jewelry - family things -

and I'm sure no one asked if they were 'conflict free' - probably didn't even know it was an issue.

I think diamonds can be lovely - as you say, KC2, the pink ones, or some of the ones that are notable for some reason, but I'd never buy any that were 'tainted' - they would HAVE to be conflict free.

I also get irritated by falsely-inflated markets, and diamonds are certainly not as rare as their prices would suggest. So I'd probably never buy one, or ask for it. Seems too artificial - buying into greed, artifice, and crazy marketing.

[Haole Girl]

10. I wish there was more attention drawn to this issue...

..seems ironic that the same people who buy large and expensive diamonds are probably the same ones who don't care. Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a market for them. It makes me very sad... something so easily within our control, yet so often ignored. Ok... I'll get off my soapbox now. :hi:

[baldguy]

13. The only diamonds in my family belong to my sisters.

They had belonged to my mother, who got them from my grandmother.

[Haole Girl]

18. Thanks for the response. nt

[KitchenWitch]

14. My wedding ring was my MILs wedding ring from 40 years ago.

Not sure if the diamonds were "bloody" back then.

[Haole Girl]

19. I wondered that too

How knows? Who knows about many of the products we used to buy... before we knew any better. I won't buy any Christmas ornaments made in China (try not to buy anything made in China, in fact) because they use child labor.

[IronLionZion]

24. They most definitely could be bloody

South Africa was a terrible place back then with apartheid under the national party. And many of the other diamond-producing countries were colonies or had white rule.

[Mutley]

15. I said I don't have any diamonds, but I actually have my grandmother's engagement ring.

It's a very very tiny diamond as she and my grandfather couldn't afford much back then. I doubt it's conflict-free.

[Haole Girl]

20. Hard to know

Thanks for the reply. :hi:

[SacredCow]

21. WIRED had a good article about artificial diamonds some time back...

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html

I'm waiting for diamond-based processor chips to become a reality... Then, perhaps PC's will be fast enough to run Vista without crashing...

[Haole Girl]

22. Diamond based processor chips?

I wonder what increase there would be then for the demand for diamonds?!:crazy:

[SacredCow]

23. Well, they would almost have to be artificial diamonds....

since for that purpose, they need to be in large, flat sheets. One of the processes covered in the article makes diamonds in exactly that configuration.