Tiffany & Co. Claims It Does Not Sell Blood Diamonds

Following the famous film with Leonardo DiCaprio "Blood Diamonds" public became increasingly aware of the sad sources of diamonds. Because of very large black market of these precious stones, thousands of people were dying in conflicts over the supply chain. It made those owning nice collections of diamonds feel very guilty. It also made educated public do some research on the sources of diamonds they purchase. In Canada for example, most of well established diamond stores proudly label whole sections with jewelry as Canadian Ice Diamonds.

Tiffany & Co. world largest diamond retailer went a step further and came up with Annual Responsibility Report. The report details all efforts company is putting towards environment sustainability, charity donations and most importantly keeping in control over the diamond sources. Before jewelry companies would purchase diamonds from known suppliers but they never verified where suppliers got diamonds. This led to creation of black market where diamonds were stolen or mined in inhumane conditions by modern slaves. The problem was shown in detail in DiCaprio film "Blood Diamonds".

Tiffany is claiming in their report that all diamonds they used in 2012 were from 100% verified sources, thus no blood diamond trade was involved. Tiffany also reported on new investments to support making diamond mines safer. Close to 1% of pretax revenue spend on and large donations towards environmental charities.

This all is however, according to Tiffany & Co. statements. Actual consumers face difficulty to confirm actual sources of their Tiffany diamonds. Diamonds are mined mostly in Africa and Canada and the origin of stones is not presented for consumers. In Canada it is common to see a stand with "Canadian Diamonds" from various retailers such as Ben Moss, Peoples and independent boutiques. You will not see one like this at Tiffany. Tiffany states that they follow Kimbrley process rigorously. Kimberley process was established some 8 years ago to fight smuggling of diamonds from conflict zones and making sure they are not illegally obtained. The process is however mainly enforced by the dealers. It entails verifying that diamonds are imported in proper sealed containers with an official sticker on them. To ensure the source is official company has to be in control of actual mines. Tiffany owns many mines, which ensures quality control and humane working conditions for miners. Not all diamonds are from Tiffany owned mines. But the fact that the company is trying to combat black market is admirable and let's hope company will do everything in their power to get diamonds to consumers not at the cost of someone's life of well being.