Blood Diamond Update

In the diamond-mining industry, a blood diamond (converted diamond, conflict diamond, hot diamond or war diamond) refers to a diamond mined in a war zone, usually in Africa, and sold to finance an insurgency, invading army’s war efforts, or a warlord’s activity.

However, the concept of a blood diamond was not popularized until the 2006 Leonardo DiCaprio movie, 'Blood Diamond'. The movie's vivid images and touching storyline hit the mined diamond industry hard - all of a sudden consumers wanted to know how much blood someone may have shed for their engagement ring. This resulted in diamond lobbyists needing to clear their name, and start cracking down on the blood diamond market.

But how far have these lobbyists and PR firms come?

In 2004, Amnesty International and Global Witness conducted a survey of diamond jewelers to see if they were living up to their promises to stop the trade in conflict diamonds. It was discovered that while some efforts have been made, many retailers were not doing enough: Only 18% of stores surveyed could provide a copy of their conflict diamond policy and 22% said they had no policy at all.

This is why Renaissance Diamonds exclusively offers lab-created diamonds. You can be sure that our diamonds were not mined in conflict areas - because our diamonds were never mined!

Alch-emy: Turn Tequila to Diamonds

A team of Mexican scientists were experimenting with ways to create lab diamonds from common organic solutions when they stumbled upon tequila.

As it turns out, tequila has just the right amount of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen needed to make diamonds. Cheap, white tequila returned fantastic results: tiny, spherical diamonds.

This discovery could greatly improve the industrial production of hard, heat-resistant diamond films. Large scale production will begin in 2011.

Trend Alert: The Diamond Pave

One of the most popular jewelry trends right now is the diamond pave ring.

Stars like Jessica Alba, Ashlee Simpson, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Hudson all have been seen wearing rings featuring diamond pave accents.

A pave setting is characterized by multiple, evenly spaced diamonds usually surrounding a center stone. These smaller stones are held in place by fine prongs which enhance the sparkle and fire of the diamond ring.

Check out Renaissance Diamonds' Diamond Pave Rings.

The "Monster Mash" Lives on in Spirit

Bobby Pickett, the voice behind the Halloween classic "Monster Mash," passed away in April of 2007 but his spirit lives on eternally on his daughter's finger.

Pickett discussed what would happen to his remains with his daughter before he passed away. She mentioned a new method of creating high quality diamonds with his carbon remains. Pickett loved the idea and now he remains immortalized as a diamond on his daughter's ring.