Are Diamonds Ethical?
MIYAMA believes in providing our customers with beautiful jewelry made through sustainable and ethical processes. We promise to deliver ethical jewelry that is free from conflict funding, child labor, and other common issues of the diamond industry.
How Diamonds Are Made
Diamonds are made of pure carbon and are formed deep within the earth (about 150 km beneath the earth's crust) in a zone of high temperature and pressure. Carbon atoms crystallize under extreme heat and pressure to form the first diamond seeds. These diamond seeds are embedded in huge chunks of rock and are brought to the surface by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Some diamonds grow within days or months, while others take millions of years to form.
Conflict Diamonds
It is said that it takes one ton of ore to mine one carat of diamonds. For many years, natural diamonds were mined from all over the world, but in the late 1990s, the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) revealed a problem with natural diamonds. They pointed out that diamonds were being used to finance civil wars, that child labor was being used, that the working environment was poor, and that local communities were being polluted. As a result, terms such as "conflict diamonds," and "blood diamonds," were born.
The Kimberley Process, established in 2003, plays a major role as an international certification system that guarantees that diamonds are not used to finance conflict. However, this does not take into account issues such as child labor, free labor, poor working conditions, and local pollution. Workers exposed to harmful chemicals often suffer from chronic diseases, while contaminated water and excessive mining destroy ecosystems, making it impossible for local residents to live on the land.
Lab Grown Diamonds
Lab grown diamonds are real diamonds with exactly the same chemical, physical, and optical properties as natural diamonds. They are not imitations like cubic zirconia.
Lab grown diamonds are made in a laboratory by scientists and are formed over a period of six to ten weeks under conditions that mimic the Earth's mantle. Lab grown diamonds are ethical stones, free of the problems inherent in natural diamonds as described above. There is no mining, regional collapse, or unethical working conditions.
Conclusion
Lab grown diamonds are ethical diamonds, free from the problems inherent in natural diamonds, such as child labor, community destruction, and funding of conflict. Not only do lab grown diamonds have the same chemical, physical, and optical properties as natural diamonds, but they are also more affordable than natural diamonds of similar quality because of the consistent supply of higher quality diamonds. In addition, lab grown diamonds are available in fancy color options, which are very rare in natural diamonds.
