Luxury has always been associated with exclusivity, extravagance, and sometimes controversy. Much like the use of fur coats has become synonymous with animal cruelty and devastation of the environment, consumers are reconsidering mined diamonds. What was once the ultimate representation of love and status is being increasingly scrutinized in light of its ethical and environmental issues. Are mined diamonds the new fur coats? Let’s look into the dark underbelly of this luxury stone.
On one hand, nobody can deny the environmental toll of diamond mining -from deforestation to water pollution, each diamond leaves a permanent stain on the earth. Entire ecosystems or rivers are hijacked, and the toxic waste created by mining leaches into the aquifers for local communities. For every carat of diamond mined, over 1750 tons of earth is displaced, leaving the diamond mining industry as one of the most ecologically devastating industries on the planet.
On the other hand, the diamond industry is plagued, not only by environmental devastation but a history of serious human rights abuses. In areas like Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo blood, diamonds, or conflict diamonds have been responsible for wars that financed a warlord’s squad. While the Kimberley Process was initiated in an attempt to prevent the sale and trade of conflict diamonds, it is far from perfect. Child labor, harmful working conditions, and exploitation still abound.
Environmental Toll of Diamond Mining
The Shift
Much like fur has been eliminated from varsity fashion collections, a similar movement toward ethically produced stones to replace mining diamonds is developing. Lab-grown diamonds are an example of ethically produced stones that provide a more sustainable option without the moral baggage. The stones are produced in controlled settings with conducive conditions to minimize costs to humans and the environment. Already, celebrities in companies have begun endorsing lab-grown diamonds, further hastening the shift to the consumer acknowledging the diminished supply of mined stones.
Just as wearing fur has morphed into a dress faux pas, like an identity product, wearing a mined diamond will soon carry all of the connotations of a socially irresponsible act. Awareness grows, and with it has come better options, consumers will subsequently begin questioning if the mined diamond that constituted status was worth the hidden costs already mentioned.
Luxury is something larger now. It’s not just what’s worn or owned. Luxury becomes what is adhered to in terms of values, meaning preferences for the lab-grown stones enable the consumer to have the same exquisite beauty and prestige without the guilt of a mined community engagement. After all, real luxury must be produced in the interior and the exterior.