We hold ourselves to strict standards when it comes to Conflict Free Diamonds. We abide by the Kimberley Process.
Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability
Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability involves mining in a reputable manner and in a conflict-free environment. It ensures that the workers are being treated fairly and kept safe. Over 10 million people are employed directly in the diamond trade for mining, polishing, distribution and retail all over the world.
Sustainability refers to the economic and social benefits being maintained for the country of origin. Some economic and social benefits may include increased employment rates in the areas allowing those working in the mines to increase their standard of living.
Mining is also linked to far more industries and sectors in a countries economy. An example of these industries include transportation, construction, equipment manufacturing, environmental management, geological services, education and research and many more. Therefore it can be seen that mining, if done sustainably, can have a large financial and economic impact on a countries wellbeing.
JewelBear goes above and beyond the current industry standards to offer Conflict Free Diamonds. Our natural diamond’s journey from mine to finger is carried out in an ethical manner. This makes all our natural diamonds conflict-free and your ethically sourced diamond is one that can be worn with confidence.
The Kimberly Process
The diamond industry is one of the few in the world that has created a self-regulatory system, known as Kimberley Process. the Kimberley Process was founded and created in 2002 by a coalition of governments, NGOs and the diamond industry. The aim was to get rid of any conflict diamonds within the diamond trade. The Kimberley Process ensures that regulations are adhered to ensuring that every diamond traded throughout the supply chain is done in a fair and ethical manner. These strict, industry-led principles and processes have resulted in transparency and accountability.
Knowing where our diamonds have been sourced is exceptionately important to us, we only purchase from a small defined amount of reliable companies who strickly follow and adhere to the rules and regulations of the Kimberly process. This enables us to guarantee that all diamonds sold at Jewel Bear are not only conflict free but also ethically sourced.
Though the KImberely process has been established years ago there are still issues of conflict diamonds being mixed with non-conflict diamonds. GIA does have a strict requirement of not accepting rough diamonds or partial rough diamonds that do not include the correct Kimberly process papers.
Therefore, the best way for the consumer to know if the diamond is legitimately and 100% conflict free is to ask the company (retailer, trader or wholesaler) as to the source of the diamond. This can only be done by tracing the diamond back to the manufacturer who originally sourced the rough diamond, that company then needs to tell if the diamond is conflict-free or not. When purchasing a natural diamond jewelry from Jewel Bear, the invoice will state the following in accordance with the Kimberley Process:
ETHICAL COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE
The gemstones herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations Resolutions. The seller hereby guarantees that these gemstones are conflict-free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the suppliers of these gemstones.
