Monday, June 11, 2007

Diamonds for Africa

I'm not the biggest fan of diamonds, don't get me wrong, they are super beautiful, but there's a lot of things around the diamond industry that I don't find very.... honest. I didn't need to see Blood Diamond to understand what distruction such precious rocks could have in a community that lives on a dollar a day. But with this bracelet, Simmons Jewelry's Green line is working to change all that.

The line was inspired by a recent fact-finding trip to Botswana and South Africa taken by Russell Simmons and a Simmons Jewelry Co. delegation to see how diamonds were empowering Africans where they are a natural resource. Upon his return, Simmons and Simmons Jewelry Co. announced the formation of the Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F.) and the Green Initiative. The D.E.F. is an international, non-profit organization, with a mission to raise money for educational programs to uplift the people and communities of Africa.

50% of net profits of the bracelet go back to Africa through D.E.F. which means with a $125 price tag, you're actually donating a lot of money to the cause. The brancelet is made from green malachite beads and conflict-free rough diamonds sourced from Africa. Each special Academy Awards Green Bracelet came with a Gem Certification Assurance Lab certificate, ensuring that the diamonds are conflict-free. Now those are some diamonds I'd have a hard time passing up. Not bad, and it's a unisex style, you can dress it up or down and you get a diamond within a diamond shaped cage, a great metaphore. You can get one of your own here.

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