Welcome to Gaia! ::

Well most diamonds now are conflict free. So if it's recent, and you got it from Debeers (which you most likely did) it's a conflict free diamond. You could most likely get it checked out as well as it should have a serial number on it and paper work somewhere that goes with it.

the Kimberly Process has helped, but it's not perfect - lack of impartial oversight, ease of joining, and, of course, the inevitable realities of smuggling and officials willing to certify documents for a bribe conspire to get more conflict stones through than DeBeers wants you to think. they got a little pissed off about that movie, by the way, wanting to make sure a disclaimer was slapped on it saying it was fiction (despite no international diamond companies being named and despite the suits in the International Diamond Commission or whatever they were calling it coming off looking quite good, on the whole), so they aren't as ethical as all that. besides, they believe that the diamond dust in THEIR mines is safe, despite every other country's mining industry being subject to laws to keep said dust down for the safety of the miners. but it's true, the numbers of conflict diamonds in circulation HAVE dropped considerably since the turn of this century. so the odds of me wearing one are lower than they would have been, say, 10 years ago.

however, i am not nuts about DeBeers at the best of times - selling the idea that diamonds = love, and the bigger the diamond, the bigger the love... 2 months salary and all that... artificially creating a shortage by sticking most of the diamonds in a vault to keep prices high... i'm STILL not crazy about giving my money to them even if the money doesn't fund human rights abuses.

and my fella bought this online, so who knows what kind of certification it has. no doubt it came through DeBeers, they've got a near-monopoly on the trade, but it isn't the sort of thing the jeweler's store on the corner can be vouching for, you know?

anyway. i'm not going to keep wearing it for other reasons once we're actually married - why wear an engagement ring when you're no longer engaged? i'd rather wear a plain band than something with any stone in it, just for matters of personal taste. so it's only 6 more months of moral handwringing.

Yay for Kilana, and thankees for birthday wish.

My boyfriend thinks he should get me a garnet for a ring since that's my birthstone, and hey hecka cheaper. Except the silly ol' Avatar Talk lurkish in me thinks I'd have to buy an all red wardrobe for the rest of my days. xd

Edit: Well, I guess the wedding band could be stoneless. I'll just be in all red while engaged. whee

I'm not satistifed with Debeers either, at least not until they merge with Wal-Mart.

I personally think I'm just getting a diamond for tradition's sake. I'm not closed to the idea of it being a different stone, though -- we saw a very pretty pink sapphire ring online and might use that as an alternative if we can't find a suitable diamond engagement band anywhere around here. I think diamonds are pretty, but in no way am I expecting the hugest diamond ever -- I find that to be kinda tacky and gaudy, even if we had the money to spend on a big rock. For one I'd be afraid of getting mugged or losing it, and for two, yeah, I see it as tacky at least to me.

Yeah, so if I don't see a diamond ring that I don't just truly fall in love with when we go shopping, I think I'll look at some of my other favorites. Hell, I'd even take an amethyst since purple IS my favorite color and I do love amethysts, even though then it's not a "traditional" ring by any means and lacks the monetary value that some of the more precious stones have, but then again I'm not even doing it for its value. If it's pretty and calls to me, then I'll go with it. However, I also like sapphires and emeralds, so I'd probably peek at those as well.

I can't wait, still have a week to go. ;_;

Diamonds are neutral-colored, which works for me. I constantly go through phases and know I wouldn't be able to commit to a single color like blue or green. They also represent what I want love to be - strong and virtually unbreakable.

Plus, I love gold and think diamonds look best with it... never understood why most of my friends prefer silver-colored jewelery...

In general, I like things to be somewhat minimal so the few details it does have will stand out more. So big gems are also a big no.



...I think "somewhat minimal" has been my goal for the last few years. I feel like I can't get rid of all my baggage, physically/materialistically and mentally.

I don't want anything fancy for an engagement ring. I'd rather he get something cheap than go all out. Not that my boyfriend is anywhere near proposing, or anything...but still.

I miss him already. ;~; And that was such a shitty way to leave each other for the next couple weeks. Hopefully things will be better when I call him. D: