It’s been said that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. But not this girl. My best friends is my husband. For nearly a decade I wore a beautiful 1.58 carat diamond engagement ring. It was a real sparkler and people complimented me on it all of the time. It looked great on my hand and I loved the sentiment behind it.
A few weeks ago while on a mini-vacation tragedy struck. Somehow I lost my diamond. It was not a loose prong as three of the prongs were sheared clear off. I was in shock. We tore the hotel room apart, swept the floors and followed our steps all over Lido beach with no luck. It was gone.
After we exhausted all efforts, I let my husband know that I did not need a diamond that I would be happy with a CZ. My friend and love of my life said “Let’s get you a new diamond.” So we went to this glittery vault called a retail store that was full of diamonds. They had an entire wall of bling in all kinds of sizes, shapes and quality. The prices for these little bits of carbon were astronomical. But we eventually selected a pretty stone. When we picked it up and left the store we noticed that it did not look the same as it did when we picked it out (I even looked at it in natural light before buying). The one I selected was near colorless and looked great. Now it looked as if a canary ate a Swarovski crystal and pooped it out. Yellow glass. No sparkle.
We suspected that they switched diamonds on us. This would not be the first time for a jewelry scam. Last year I had my diamond reset into a new ring and was informed by the jeweler that the old ring was 18K plated. The receipt which I still have and the appraisal from that jewelry store said 18K gold.
So we took it back. No refunds but we could have a store credit. After much negotiating by the Hubby they finally agreed to buy it back. The rock was now worth a little less than when they sold it to us a week earlier. We took a hit, but were over the diamond scam.
After doing a lot of research on diamonds, I came to realize just what an awful thing the diamond industry is.
All diamonds are blood diamonds. All diamonds are conflict diamonds. The brutal Western imperial proxy wars in West Africa over diamond mines have been horrific. These wars, however, are only another chapter in the last hundred years of colonial terror as it has been represented by the diamond trade, controlled by the DeBeers cartel.
The legacy of the diamond is steeped in the slavery, colonialism, genocide and terror that built and maintains the Western capitalist system. We are the beneficiaries of this genocidal system.
But like a lot of women, I still love sparkly things on my hand. What is a girl to do? One word: moissanite. You can learn about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moissanite
For about 5% of the cost of an equivalent diamond, I got an amazing 1.5 carat stone that has fire and beauty even better than the real one I had before. I got the Forever Brilliant version and there is no yellow at all. Looks like an amazing diamond! Pictures do not do justice! It is so pretty on my hand and I could not be happier.
And BEST of all, now with all of the money we saved we can invest in “memories” and not just a “thing”. We have two romantic trips planned already. St. Augustine in October and The Florida Keys in January.
Moissanite….a girl’s second best friend. 😉
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Abstract Art by Sharon Cummings 