The Cheap Engagement Rings Guide
  • Home
  • Buying guides
    • 10 things you need to know when shopping for cheap engagement rings online
    • 7 ways to save money on engagement rings
    • Frequently asked questions about engagement rings
    • Where to buy conflict free diamonds, ethical engagement rings and non blood diamonds
    • The beginners guide to gemstones for engagement rings
  • Top 10
    • 10 of the best places to buy cheap engagement rings for under £1000, £500 or £100
    • 10 of the best places to buy cheap mens wedding rings in gold, silver, platinum or palladium
    • 10 of the best engagement rings
    • Expensive engagement rings - 10 of the best places to buy top quality diamond rings
    • Amazon engagement rings
    • Unusual engagement rings
  • Shop by budget
    • Second hand diamond rings
    • Cheap engagement rings under £50
    • Cheap engagement rings under £100
    • Cheap engagement rings under £200
    • Cheap engagement rings under £300
    • Engagement rings under £500
    • Engagement rings under £1000
    • Our top 5 places to buy engagement rings under £500
  • Shop by diamond carat
    • The UKs 25 cheapest 0.25 carat diamond engagement rings
    • 1 carat diamond engagement ring price test
    • How much does a 2 carat diamond ring cost?
  • Cheap weddings
  • Blog
  • About us
    • About/disclaimer
    • Privacy policy
    • Press/PR

Is your diamond engagement ring conflict free?

9/3/2017

 
I've recently been doing a bit of digging (not literally) for conflict free diamonds.

Like lots of other people I was embarrassingly unaware of the issue until it became the subject of a film in 2006. In my defence, I wasn't looking to get married at the time so I had no real need to buy a diamond (I'm sure I would have looked handsome with a diamond stud in my nose, but it was beyond my means).

11 years after the film, it still appears to be a problem, at least according to Amnesty International who say the industry still helps 'fund devastating civil wars in Africa'. 

​Three years prior to the film coming out was the development of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme which you may well have heard about. 

However, according to Amnesty International (again):

Despite its pledge to support the Kimberley Process and Clean Diamond Trade Act, the Diamond Industry has fallen short of implementing the necessary policies for self-regulation. The retail sector in particular fails to provide sufficient assurance to consumers that the diamonds they sell are conflict-free.

Their plea is to help them survey retailers to find out what is happening on the ground.

My own research was more positive than I was expecting. 

I looked at five of the UK's high street jewellers and found all of them offer a guarantee on their website that they don't sell 'blood diamonds' (I looked at H Samuel, Beaverbrooks, Ernest Jones, Goldsmiths, F Hinds.

I then looked at Amazon, which has a vast choice of diamonds. 

It's important to understand that Amazon sells items direct and it also allows others to sell through its third party 'Marketplace'. Amazon's big diamond brands like Miore or Naava both guarantee to be conflict free, so if you want to be sure I would buy direct from Amazon.

There was an article 10 years ago which suggested that it is harder to offer such guarantees with third party sellers, but that's about all I could find. Most items on Amazon have clear descriptions, and you can always contact the seller if you find a bargain which you aren't sure about.

Other big online diamond sellers which offered conflict free guarantees included Diamonds Factory, Diamond Heaven and Purely Diamonds.

I'm certainly not saying that the issue of blood diamonds has gone away but I was pleased to see how easy it is for UK shoppers to find a diamond engagement ring which is guaranteed to be conflict-free.

Comments are closed.

    Author

    A bargain hunter's thoughts on buying diamond engagement rings without bankrupting yourself

    This site uses cookies - see our privacy policy. Ads & links in bold may give us a small payment from the seller, at no cost to the buyer. However, this never affects our views - if we like it, we recommend it.

    Archives

    November 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016

Buying Guides

Best retailers
Unusual rings
Beginners' guide
Saving money
Expensive rings
Wedding bands
Conflict-free
Gemstones
​Second hand
​Cheap weddings
​Diamond FAQ

Shop by budget

£50 rings
£100 rings
£200 rings
£300 rings
£500 rings
£1000 rings

Shop by carat

0.25 carat
1 carat
2 carat

About

About us
Press/PR
Blog
​Privacy policy
​Disclaimer
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. However, we maintain full editorial control and only recommend based on merit rather than whether they offer commission.
​© COPYRIGHT 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.