Jewelry News
Gold Mine Collapses Kill More Than 100 People
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013When gold and diamond miners die on the job, deliberate violence is very often the cause. In Zimbabwe and Angola, mining company security guards have been shooting and killing local diamond miners. In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), gold miners work in the midst of a bloody civil war. But there is another very common way in which miners can suddenly lose their lives – and that’s when the mines they work in collapse. Recent news stories from three different African countries demonstrate how serious a problem this is. The BBC reported last week …
Are You Calling About that Murder? Um, Here’s Our Switchboard
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013In early March, a man named Herbert Manhanga was walking in the vicinity of the valuable Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe. Manhanga lived nearby, and a few other local residents were with him. According to Manhanga’s sister, the group encountered some security guards for Marange Resources, a diamond mining company. Manhanga dropped his hat and tried to pick it up, at which point one of the guards opened fire, killing him instantly. An analysis determined that the cause of death was two bullet wounds to his head. A police officer told Manhanga’s sister that the police would not …
How Dirty Gold Mining Affects the Fish You Eat
Sunday, April 28th, 2013One of the great lessons of the environmental movement is that we live in a connected world. Harming one part of an ecosystem can disrupt the entire balance, and it can have an impact on people living near and far. “In nature nothing exists alone,” wrote Rachel Carson in Silent Spring. The celebration of Earth Week this past week has gotten us thinking about this powerful idea of connectedness and how it applies in the jewelry industry. When most people think about ethical issues related to jewelry, they think of conflict diamonds – about bloody civil wars in some …
Earth Day Promotion Roundup
Friday, April 19th, 2013In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson established the first Earth Day, and the movement has been growing steadily ever since. On this day we all join together to celebrate how fortunate we are to live on this beautiful planet! This is a time to raise awareness and discuss the environmental challenges we all face, such as climate change and air and water pollution. Check out www.earthday.org for more information on how you can participate. Earth Day is important to Brilliant Earth because part of our goal is to end environmentally harmful mining practices and restore land that has …
In New Film, Alaskan Natives Speak Out Against Gold Mine
Sunday, April 14th, 2013A new documentary film provides a chance for native Alaskans to explain, in their own words, the importance of salmon fishing in their culture – and why the opening of a new gold and copper mine would threaten their way of life. The film, titled “We Can’t Eat Gold,” deals with the proposed Pebble Mine, which would be located in the Bristol Bay watershed about 250 miles southwest of Anchorage. The mining companies trying to open the Pebble Mine want access to one of the most valuable deposits of gold, copper, and molybdenum in the world. However, Bristol Bay is …
Eric Grossberg Named One of JCK Magazine’s Top 20 Under 40
Thursday, April 11th, 2013Brilliant Earth is proud to announce that our cofounder, Eric Grossberg, has been named one of the top 20 under 40 in the jewelry industry by JCK Magazine! The 2013 Power List featured 20 young men and women who are poised to become the future movers and shakers of the jewelry industry. Eric appeared on the Power List alongside bloggers, social media gurus, and other forward thinking entrepreneurs. Also gracing the list were a few prominent jewelry legacies, including the Kwiat brothers, Paul Tacorian, and Lita Asscher. This article positions Eric—the cofounder of a company that was built …
Introducing Our Infographic on Blood Diamonds
Thursday, April 11th, 2013Why do so many couples care where their diamonds come from? Maybe the best answer to that question is that many diamonds are tainted by bloodshed and violence. But the ethical problems facing the diamond industry run deep, and are more varied than some people realize. In too many ways, diamond mining contributes to the exploitation of people and the environment. We’ve brought together some of the key facts you should know about unethical diamond mining in the infographic below. To learn more, please see our Conflict Diamond Issues page. Click on the infographic below to make it larger. Want …
After Coup, Considering the Future in Central African Republic
Sunday, March 31st, 2013A coup has taken place in one of Africa’s diamond-rich countries, the Central African Republic. A week ago, rebel forces took over the country’s capital, Bangui, and overthrew the ruling dictator, Francois Bozizé, who has fled to Cameroon. The rebel leader, Michel Djotodia, has installed himself as president. We’ve been following events in the Central African Republic with concern for some time now. In 2011, clashes between rebel groups over diamond mining territory led to the death of 50 people. By late last year, rebel forces had unified and were poised to take over the capital. A last minute peace …
Conflict Gold Warlord Unexpectedly Surrenders
Thursday, March 21st, 2013A warlord in the Democratic Republic of Congo known as “the Terminator” – and who used gold and other conflict minerals to finance a violent insurgency – has turned himself in to the International Criminal Court (ICC). On Monday, General Bosco Ntaganda unexpectedly walked into the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and asked to be handed over to the court. The United States will likely do exactly that. The civil war in Congo has been going on since the late 1990s and has caused the death of more than 5 million people, making it one of …
A Tale of Two Diamond Heists
Sunday, March 10th, 2013We’d like to discuss two recent diamond heists – both of them outrageous, both similar in some coincidental details, but each causing a very different world reaction. The first one happened a few weeks ago in Belgium. Eight thieves wearing police uniforms burst through a fence at the Brussels airport, just as a Swiss passenger plane was being loaded with a cargo of diamonds. Driving two black vehicles that flashed blue police lights, the thieves raced up the runway. When they got to the plane, they waved submachine guns at ground workers and the pilot. Within 15 minutes they …
