Brilliant Earth Review — What makes them so different?
A quick internet search will reveal a number of different jewelers offering ethical or conflict-free diamond jewelry. Most of these jewelers offer diamonds that conform to the Kimberley Process definition of conflict-free. In other words, these diamonds are considered ethical because they have not been used to finance civil wars or rebel movements. Ethical diamonds have less of a firm definition, but by tradition are diamonds that have been mined without exploiting workers or the environment.
Conscientious consumers will want to look for both conflict-free and ethical diamonds, but how do you know if what you’re buying is the real deal?
How to Tell if a Diamond is Ethical and Conflict-Free?
The best way to determine if a diamond has been ethically sourced is to discover exactly where it came from. For instance, countries like Canada, Botswana, Namibia, and Sierra Leone have strict ethical mining standards. Therefore, when shopping for a diamond, you need to look for a company that publicizes the origins of their diamonds. You should also question the company on how they can verify the diamond’s origin. In other words, can they trace the route the diamond has taken from mine to the store?
Verifying whether a diamond is conflict-free is a little easier. All conflict-free diamonds will have a Kimberley Process certificate. Therefore, you need to ensure that the jeweler can provide this certificate when shopping for a conflict-free diamond. Otherwise, they can’t be considered conflict-free.
Introducing Ethical and Conflict-Free Jeweler, Brilliant Earth
A company that is guaranteed to pop up on your internet search for ethical and conflict-free diamonds is Brilliant Earth.
Brilliant Earth was founded in 2005 with a mission to provide conflict-free, ethical, and environmentally responsible diamonds to consumers. They strive to cultivate a transparent, compassionate, and sustainable jewelry industry by strongly emphasizing jewelry’s social impact.
Brilliant Earth offers ethical and conflict-free diamonds, as well as lab-grown and recycled diamonds. As part of their commitment to environmental responsibility, they primarily craft their jewelry from recycled precious metals and responsibly source wood for their ring boxes. In fact, the wood they use for their boxes comes exclusively from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests.
As you can probably already tell, Brilliant Earth is not your average jewelry company. Read on to learn more about what sets them apart.
Brilliant Earth — Going Beyond Ethical and Conflict-Free
In our Brilliant Earth Review, we found that this company offers both ethical and conflict-free diamonds. In fact, they have developed their own guidelines for the diamonds they accept and sell through their physical and online stores. They call these guidelines «Beyond Conflict-Free.»
The Beyond Conflict-Free guidelines combine the requirements of the Kimberley Process with ethical sourcing. However, they go one step further by adding an additional requirement. According to the Beyond Conflict-Free guidelines, diamonds must also come from mines that support community development.
Community development is a big part of Brilliant Earth’s operating procedures. To begin with, they give five percent of their net profits to helping build better futures for mining communities. Additionally, they donate to programs dedicated to bettering human rights and environmental practices in the jewelry industry.
Brilliant Earth’s Community Improvement Programs
As part of their dedication to seeing conditions improved in mines, Brilliant Earth supports Pure Earth’s mission to empower artisanal gold miners of Madre de Dios by offering training in mercury-free mining practices. Additionally, Pure Earth fosters sustainable methods of mine closures while also working to restore rainforest areas that have been degraded from gold-mining practices.
In partnership with the Diamond Development Initiative, Brilliant Earth funded a primary school in the Lungundi mine community.
To further their quest to reduce environmental degradation, Brilliant Earth designed the Rainforest Alliance Pendant. Funds from this pendant go towards creating a more sustainable world in the Amazon by advocating for better land management practices.
Moreover, Brilliant Earth community involvement goes beyond the mining industry. They support hunger relief by donating to groups such as Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund.
Conclusion
Brilliant Earth is different from other ethical and conflict-free jewelry companies because they are committed to giving back to both local and global communities. Brilliant Earth supports hunger relief in their home country of America while also helping to enrich people’s lives in mining communities across the world by providing education. Additionally, their commitment to the environment goes beyond sustainable mining practices. They also source the wood for their packaging in an eco-friendly way, and they donate to restoring rainforest areas and sustainable methods of closing mines.
