Ethical engagement rings for Valentine’s Day marriage proposals
A guide to sustainable diamond rings, from lab grown options to contact-free stones
Text: Jo
An engagement ring is one of the most important purchases you will ever make. If you’re planning a Valentine’s Day marriage proposal this year and are on the hunt for a diamond ring, it’s important to understand more about the production process to ensure you make a sustainable choice. Indeed, today you can choose from sustainable, lab grown and conflict free diamond options that all make for beautiful ethical engagement rings.
Blood diamonds
The 2006 political war thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio shone a spotlight on what was otherwise a little known issue: the unethical process of diamond production, which can profit warlords and fuel conflict.
Implemented in 2003, the Kimberley Process unites 82 administrations, civil societies and industry in reducing the flow of conflict diamonds around the world. It’s estimated that the members have stemmed 99.8% of the global production of conflict diamonds, meaning that it is, today, highly unlikely to find a diamond that is mined or shipped with connections to rebel or terror groups.
Ethically produced stones
However, whilst the Kimberly Process has done much to address the issue of blood stones, it does not guarantee ethical diamonds, as it does not address unfair labour practices or environmental degradation within the industry. Human rights groups have regularly cited concern over child labour, exploitation and unsafe conditions within artisanal mining, which produces around 15% of the world’s diamonds.
“I didn’t know much about the diamond production process until I started looking for engagement rings for my marriage proposal,” says Tom, an expat who lives in Singapore and who recently proposed to his partner. “I initially just started looking online at shapes and styles, and it wasn’t until I stumbled upon some information on sustainably sourced stones that ethical engagement rings became an important factor in my search.”
Respectable jewellers
When hunting for the perfect diamond engagement ring with which to pop the question, it’s vital that you demand details on the stone you’re purchasing; your jeweller should be able to answer any questions you have about the journey of your diamond.
Continues Tom: “I spoke to around five different jewellers in Singapore whilst looking for the perfect ring. On the whole they were all extremely helpful and knowledgeable, and were able to share plenty of information about where the stones had come from, which was a big relief.”
Aside from doing your due diligence before a Valentine’s Day marriage proposal, there are a few sure-fire ways to avoid purchasing an unethical diamond engagement ring:
Opt for a recycled diamond Over the years, millions of diamonds have been extracted from the Earth and set into jewellery. As people refresh their personal collections, they may sell unwanted items to jewellers, who then reset the diamonds for resale. Whilst it is impossible to tell the conditions under which recycled diamonds were initially mined centuries ago, recycled stones are a sustainable choice as no new mining is required, averting environmental and human impact
Buy from Canada Canadian mines have some of the world’s highest environmental standards; the country is committed to programmes that further the sustainable development of its natural resources, including diamonds. Diamonds mined in Canada are also conflict-free and harvested in a responsible, legitimate manner, having gone through a stringent certification process that traces the stone’s history
Explore lab-grown diamonds Lab-grown diamonds are chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined diamonds, but are machine-created under extreme heat and pressure. Whilst there are some discrepancies around the carbon footprint of lab-grown versus naturally sourced stones, it’s generally agreed that mined diamonds require considerably more energy than those grown in a lab. This process also eliminates concerns around the conditions for miners
“I opted for a lab-created diamond to propose to my girlfriend with,” says Dom, who popped the question to his girlfriend last year. “The reason I took this route was that I was finding it more difficult than I’d anticipated to fully understand the stone’s journey when looking at natural diamonds, and I wanted to be certain that the one I bought was completely ethical.”
He says, “Now, we’re looking for the ‘forever’ (naturally mined) stone together as a couple, and it’s actually very difficult to tell the difference between these and the lab-grown one.”
Where to buy
Thankfully, there are several great options in Singapore for finding the perfect ethical engagement rings for marriage proposals. Here are a few to explore:
ByCanary Created last year by the team behind The Canary Diamond Co., ByCanary is a socially and environmentally sustainable label, using only sustainably sourced gems and recycled fine metals in its collections which include ethical engagement rings. The places an emphasis on understanding the history of stones, and sources all from fair, humanitarian miners
Covenant Local jewellers, Covenant, focus on ethically made pieces with conflict-free diamonds and ethically-sourced gemstones. Each one is custom cut by award-winning gem-cutters for one-of-a-kind ring options. Experts in sustainable engagement rings, the Covenant team are on hand to create bespoke rings based on your story
ÉCLAT by Oui Éclat by Oui was conceptualised when founder, Ethel Neo, lost her engagement ring whilst travelling and decided to look into a luxurious, yet ‘guilt-free’ diamond alternative. Éclat by Oui’s stones are made of the highest-grade diamond stimulants and are meticulously crafted in Hong Kong. They closely resemble a naturally mined diamond, and are hand cut and polished to a very high standard
