US jewellers say no to ‘blood diamonds’

Speaking in Cape Town, retail jewellers from the United States have said that the international certification agreement recently reached in Europe to curb the sale of uncut ‘blood diamonds’ was timely, agencies reported on Friday. The international diamond certification system would be effective by the end of the year. It is intended to curtail the sale of conflict diamonds, which are used to finance wars in Africa. The jewellers made the statement at the end of their visit to South Africa. Festdiam Diamond Cutting director Lester Meents, who hosted the visitors, on Wednesday told reporters that even though the American jewellers had expressed concern about ‘conflict diamonds’, they were convinced that South Africa’s mining and diamond cutting industry was conflict free. About US $6 billion worth of diamonds is sold through the US jewellery market annually. Jeffrey Abell, a prominent American jeweller, told reporters that they would do everything in their power to avoid supporting atrocities that are connected with conflict diamonds. “Customers in our stores are beginning to raise the issue and this definitely provides us with the opportunity to assure our clients that just as we as jewellers refuse to deal in conflict diamonds, they, too, can rest assured that when they buy the diamond they have always dreamed of, they will not be supporting the seamier side of the diamond trade,” he added.