Examentrainers

		So, Should You Buy a Diamond?
		By TOM ZOELLNER
1		Jewellers know the look, the shy				single working mine. The GAO said,
		mixture of hesitation and happiness				with bureaucratic dryness, that such
		that crosses a man’s face when he				figures were “not plausible”.
		buys an engagement ring. He wants		5		The Kimberley Process has two
		this piece of clear carbon to embody				loopholes that can’t be easily
		all the love he feels for his intended				plugged. The first, as the U.S.
		and to represent the new life they’re				report’s findings indicate, is that it
		embarking on. I felt it five years ago				would be difficult to design a better
		when I became one of the 1.7 million				tool for money laundering, arms
		American men who buy a diamond				dealing and cross-border smuggling
		ring each year. Later, my engagement				than a diamond - all that liquidity in
		unravelled and I began to think again				such a tiny space. Diamonds can be
		about that ring and about the diamond				bought with dirty money, moved
		trade that produced it. I realized				across African borders with relative
		there were questions I should have				ease, given false paperwork and then
		been asking about that diamond beyond				sent onward to the trading centres of
		the carat size and the price.				Europe.
		Primarily, should you even buy a		6		The second is that Kimberley
		diamond?				concerns itself only with nations that
						are in a state of war as defined by the
						United Nations. This essentially
						[Id:36925] all kinds of miserable deeds in
						places like Angola, which is still
						recovering from a grinding 30-year
						war and where murder and robbery
						are facets of daily life in the diamond
						fields. I was told that miners have
2		The answer depends on whom				been gutted if they were suspected of
		you ask. The diamond trade would				having swallowed a stone.
		say yes. Watchdog groups like Global		7		The diamond industry deserves
		Witness would say no. Eight years				credit, however, for taking the first
		ago, Global Witness produced				steps toward ending the diamond-
		damning evidence of jewel-related				related slaughter. And, yes, the gems
		slaughter in several African nations.				can be used to build up a nation’s
		It caused an international scandal				infrastructure rather than tear it
		and gave rise to a policing				apart. While the nascent democracy
		mechanism called the Kimberley				of Botswana does not have a
		Process, which requires diamond-				diversified economy (65% of export
		exporting nations to seal their stones				income comes from diamonds), its
		in a tamperproof container, with a				calm political climate proves that
		document stating they were not				these stones are not always corrosive
		mined in a war zone.				to the places they come from.
3		Has this worked? To research my				Namibia is taking steps toward
		book, The Heartless Stone, I				creating a home-grown polishing
		travelled to Africa, where diamonds				industry, adding a long-overdue
		are mined in conditions that range				value-added layer to the extraction
		from the orderly to the horrific, and				process. A sudden collapse of the
		found virtually no oversight of the				diamond trade would spell disaster
		violence-prone alluvial-mining sites.				for these countries and cause
		Many stones have made their way out				starvation and chaos in other
		of the jungle and into suburban malls				diamond zones in Africa.
		via somebody’s lower intestinal tract.		8		It will not be a movie such as
		[id:36922] the diamonds are not smuggled				Blood Diamond or even the
		or traded for guns, the wages for the				Kimberley Process that determines
		miners can be outrageously unfair. I				whether America’s favourite
		met a team of diggers in the Central				gemstone can be purchased ethically.
		African Republic who were routinely				That’s up to the consumers, who
		paid $200 for large-carat diamonds				should insist that jewellers show
		that would easily retail for $40,000				them proof that their suppliers have
		in the U.S.				a System of Warranties statement on
4		There is persuasive evidence that				their invoices, demonstrating
		the supply chain is easily infiltrated.				compliance with the Kimberley
		A September U.S. report1) said flatly,				Process. Even if this doesn’t prove
		“U.S. control systems cannot help				that a diamond is clean, it proves that
		deter illicit rough diamonds from				customers care about the source of
		entering the legitimate trade.”				their icons of love.
		Another disturbing finding: the U.S.
		reported exporting more diamonds				Tom Zoellner is the author of The
		than it received in 2003; [id:36923] trade				Heartless Stone
		imbalance for a nation without a
						Time

noot 1: from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)