[Jewelry making - Article 00743] - Re: [Orchid] Blood Diamonds

[Nanz Aalund]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

>     For decades now, DeBeers has controlled every aspect of the world
>     diamond markets. And truth be known, there is not a diamond
>     producing location on the face of the earth that is not under some
>     kind of pressure from DeBeers and their world domination. 

    I am sorry but this is just not true. 

    Canada, Russia, and Australia have all been mining and producing
    finished diamonds since the mid-1900s without any DeBeers
    involvement. 

    If DeBeers were such a monster company why would Nelson Mandela write
    an open letter to the American Jewelry Industry which was published 
in
    JCK magazine in the late 1990s urging manufacturers to NOT boycott
    them surrounding this issue. 

    It seem DeBeers provides work at a living wage for a large percentage
    of South Africa's indigenous population. 

    Taxes paid by DeBeers to the government of South Africa also supports
    infrastructure such as hospitals, roads, and schools. 

    Also, DeBeers diamonds are primarily from kimberlite deposits whereas
    the diamonds from Sierra Leone where the mutilation and civil war
    happened are known to be alluvial. And less than 0.2% of world
    production. 

    And perhaps you are too young to remember the situation in the 1950s
    when UNICEF sent health workers into several Africa countries to
    inoculate the children against polio. The tribal leaders in some
    areas felt threatened by the white health workers and chopped off the
    arm of every child who had gotten a polio inoculation. 

    Just as horrible, but it was not DeBeers fault either. 

Nanz Aalund
Associate Editor / Art Jewelry magazine
21027 Crossroads Circle / Waukesha WI 53187-1612
262.796.8776 ext.228
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________