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Conflict diamonds

We emphasize the quality of our gemstones and guarantee that we neither sell nor buy conflict diamonds.

Our suppliers are 100% committed to the Kimberley Process Resolution (UN). Our suppliers also follow the guidelines published in the World Federation Code of Principles (WFCOP) and approved by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB).

History of conflict diamonds

Conflict diamonds, or blood diamonds as some would call them, are illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas. Diamonds have funded brutal wars in countries such as Angola, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, resulting in the death and displacement of millions of people.

The conflict diamonds are generally in their raw form. At the height of the civil war in Sierra Leone, it is estimated that conflict diamonds represented approximately four percent of the world's diamond production.

Kimberley Process

The Kimberley Process began in May 2000, in Kimberley, South Africa.

Diamond-producing states concerned by the damaging social effects of the trade in conflict diamonds set out to agree a framework for reducing these influences. The Kimberley Process (KP) is a binding agreement that imposes extensive requirements on every participanting country. The visible evidence of this commitment is The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) that both safeguards the shipment of ‘rough diamonds’ and certifies them as conflict free.

Wars funded by diamond was included in the agenda of the 55th session of the UN General Assembly.

The result was an agreement by the United Nations, European Union, the governments of 74 countries, the World Diamond Council - representing the industry - and a number of interest groups.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) outlines the rules that govern the trade in rough diamonds. The KPCS has developed a set of minimum requirements that each participant must meet. It is not, strictly speaking, an international organisation: it has no permanent offices or permanent staff. It relies on the contributions – under the principle of ‘burden-sharing' – of participants, supported by industry and civil society observers. Neither can the KP be considered as an international agreement from a legal perspective, as it is implemented through the national legislations of its participants.

The Retailer´s Guide to Marketing Diamond Jewellery describes the standards of excellence we must uphold and the guarantee that all buyers and sellers of diamonds must comply to. This guarantee assures that the diamond have been acquired in accordance with UN resolutions and by legal trade, not involved in conflict.

99,8 % of all diamonds are now conflict-free

Before the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) was established 4% of all traded diamonds were conflict diamonds. This number is now, December 2017, down to less than 1%.

The KPCS entered into force in 2003, when participating countries started to implement its rules and today 81 countries are members of the Process.

Under the terms of the KPCS, participating states must meet 'minimum requirements' and must put in place national legislation and institutions; export, import and internal controls; and also commit to transparency and the exchange of statistical data. Participants can only legally trade with other participants who have also met the minimum requirements of the scheme, and international shipments of rough diamonds must be accompanied by a KP certificate guaranteeing that they are conflict-free.