RingSpotters

RingSpotlight: Yael Designs

Today's RingSpotlight features the award-winning Yael Designs, a fine jewelry house with a well-earned reputation for quality craftsmanship and elegant jewelry. Founded in 2001 as a sustainability-conscious company, Yael uses recycled gold and conflict-free diamonds in all its fine jewelry and supports social and environmental organizations. Yael has created 12 fashion and bridal collections including black/white diamonds, engagement rings, tanzanite, spinning colored stones, fancy yellow diamonds and bridal accessories.

We love their innovative and expressive pieces and their commitment to environmentally conscious jewelry.

Celebrity Engagement Ring: Natalie Portman

Fresh off of her Golden Globe win this week, we thought we'd feature the lovely, newly engaged Natalie Portman and her gorgeous engagement ring.

Ring Details: Antique mine-cut diamond set in a circular halo design, with a delicate pave diamond band. Certified conflict-free stones and made of recycled platinum. 

Ringspotters News Flash: Zimbabwe Stones Banned

Amidst all the beauty of diamonds and jewels, there is a dark side that many of us fail to see. Perhaps this piece of news will help boost blood diamond awareness and get jewelry consumers to start asking questions!   A global mining trading network (Rapaport) has stated that they would expel any member who knowingly trades gems with two Zimbabwe mines with extremely dangerous labor conditions. So before you buy, do your homework and ask questions!  Find the full article on Yahoo! Finance News here. 

Source: http://www.zimtelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/diamonds3.jpg

Zimbabwe's response?  The day after the global ban, they stated that they would continue to sell their diamonds in Asia, claiming that the Rapaport Diamond Trading Network is a "lunatic organisation". "Click here for the story. 

Heirloom Pear Shaped Yellow Diamond Ring

We love heirloom rings, and even more so, love hearing the anecdotes that go along with them.  Today's ring is a pear shaped yellow diamond that has been passed down from mother to daughter.  Its vintage feel and unique setting is definitely eye catching.

Also called a teardrop, pear shaped diamonds are a combination of round or oval and marquis cut - with one side of the stone rounded, and the other tapered. Brilliant cut pears usually have 58 facets, and sparkle nearly as much as the more common round diamond.  Some even say that pear shaped diamonds enhance the length of the finger. 

Cut: Pear shape, brilliant cut

Carat: 2.8

Setting: 14K yellow gold, Light Fancy, Golden Champagne Color, with 6 round full cut diamonds on each side.

A Jewelry Story: My father gave it to my mother in the 80s (I remember her going into the store many times looking at it and longing for it.) She wore it every day on her right hand and after she died it is the only ring of hers that I've sized to fit my hand (she had TINY hands) and sadly, I've only found a few occasions to wear it.

A Petition to Prevent Conflict Diamonds

Make a Difference: Sign Brilliant Earth's petition for Kimberly Process reform (Ringspotters has!). We want the Kimberley Process to broaden its mandate to thoroughly address human right abuses in the diamond trade. Specifically, it should incorporate worker exploitation, violence, child labor, and environmental destruction. To show their support and encourage consumer action, Brilliant Earth will donate a dollar to communities harmed by the jewelry trade for every new signature up to $10,000!

Two Stone Green and White Diamond Ring

Feast your eyes on this beauty. This heirloom piece is so unique with its two-stoned angled setting, dramatic green and white diamond contrast, and myriad of tiny round brilliants. We're drooling. Happy Friday.

Cut: Round Brilliant diamond and Green Diamond

Carat: 3+

Setting: two-stone angled setting on platinum surrounded by round brilliants, center stones in a 4 prong setting

Jeweler: Cartier, 1960

Heirloom Ruby and Diamond Ring

Today we feature a ruby and diamond heirloom ring that has been passed on from mother to daughter. We love the unique and detailed setting and the way the baguettes encircle the center stone. It is absolutely breathtaking! Heirlooms such as these are special because not only are the gemstones and metal recycled, but they carry a significant history and mystique with them.

Cut: Center Diamond Euro-cut surrounded by 17 tapered baguette rubies

Carat: Center stone 1.35, baguette rubies 1.5 ct total, side panels pavaed with 5 large and 6 small diamonds, approx 2ct total.  

Setting: Lady's platinum doughnut style and pave

About this ring: "This ring was purchased for my mother by my father in the 80's.  It definitely is much older than that.  I called it the 'Wheel of Fortune Ring' as a child because the rubys looked like the wheel to me."  

 

 

Earth Day Engagement Rings

If you have never checked out Etsy, you should definitely take a look.  Its an online marketplace for handcrafted items made by talented artists and artisans.  Today we feature four eco-friendly diamond engagement rings that caught our eye on Etsy.  They are all made by independent jewelers who have used not only conflict free/fairly traded stones but also recycled metals.  Bravo to their efforts and to their fine pieces of jewelry.  

About these rings (Clockwise L-R)

- round brilliant bezel ring set in 100% recycled 14 K gold by Onestonenewyork. Jeweler is "committed to an ethical awareness in bench-made jewelry production"

-  lively natural diamond 6 prong setting with 18K reclaimed gold by beyondtherockz. Jeweler uses "fairly-traded stones and reclaimed and refined materials and metals."

- 1/2 carat diamond set in recylced palladium white gold by singleBbeautiful. "Recycled metals and conflict free/fair trade stone makes this ring as ethical as it is beautiful."

- natural diamond set in 100% recycled 14K white gold by Onestonenewyork.  Jeweler is "committed to an ethical awareness in bench-made jewelry production"

The Earth Day Short List

Selecting the perfect ring is already enough stress on its own. And now, with all the issues surrounding conflict diamonds and earth friendly mining, we have one more item to add to our checklist to keep our consciences clear.  Here's the short list of what you can do as a responsible consumer...

1. Your jeweler:  select a jeweler with care.  Find a jeweler with an independent trusted source for fair trade diamonds or go through ethical diamond mining sites:  Brilliant Earth, Pride Diamonds, Leber Jeweler, Tiffany & Co., Erica Courtney

2. Your stone: Ask your jeweler about the origins of the stone and request a written warranty verifying the diamonds source and chain of custody. This will hold the jeweler responsible for their claim of labeling and selling a conflict-free diamond.  

3. Consider recycled metals:   Did you know that it takes at least 30 tons of rock to make one gold ring? Recycled gold is melted down and re-refined, making it the same quality as newly mined gold.  Many gold mines are open pit mines and can be devastating to the environment . Learn more at GreenKarat and for a list of retailers who support responsible gold mining, visit nodirtygold.org.

 Stunning yellow diamond set in recycled 18K yellow or white gold, or 90% recycled from GreenKarat.com

4. Go vintage: Consider an antique ring or an heirloom piece.  Its a great way to reuse and recycle valuable jewelry and a sure way to be unique!

5. Diamond Alternatives:  If you are not into diamonds, you can consider Moissanites. Made from silicon carbonite, Moissanite can also be manufactured in a lab and are completely earth-friendly and conflict-free gemstone. Its also easier on the wallet!  

6. Watch Blood Diamond: Not only is it a great film, but it is quite the eye opener, bringing awareness to the dark and often violent side of the diamond industry. 

RingSpotlight: Brilliant Earth & Ethical Origin Fine Jewelry

Its so easy to get caught up with the beauty and excitement of a ring and forget about where it came from. In the spirit of Earth Day, we'd like to educate our readers about what we can do to be more aware of the issues surrounding conflict diamonds and gems.  

In order to understand what exactly it means to wear eco-friendly jewelry, we contacted Brilliant Earth, San Francisco based jewelers committed to providing ethically and environmentally responsible fine jewelry. We love the story of how this company started - out of a marriage proposal. When the groom could not find a reliable source that could guarantee conflict free diamonds, the couple created Brilliant Earth to provide certified conflict free diamonds as an alternative to current diamond industry practices.  Just fabulous!  

Image Courtesy of:  http://www.brilliantearth.com/loose-diamonds/

Here are some eco-tidbits courtesy of Brilliant Earth that are worth knowing...

 

1. Conflict diamonds have funded devastating civil wars in Africa, ending millions of lives. These "blood diamonds", are associated with human rights abuses, environmental damage, and terrorism.

2.  The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP), was established in 2003 to prevent "blood diamonds" from entering the mainstream rough diamond market. It imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as ‘conflict-free’.

3. Recent events illustrate that the KP is not as reliable as we thought - they continue to certify diamonds from Zimbabwe, even though diamond mining there is causing unspeakable human suffering.

4.  A 2004 Amnesty International survey found that 83% of US jewelers says their customers ‘rarely or never’ inquire about the source of diamonds.

5. A similar study in 2007 found that 56% of jewelers do not even have an auditing procedure in place to prevent the retail of conflict diamonds. Those that do rely on the faulty KP certification.

 

 

We hope to do our part to help create awareness and encourage responsible ring buying. So, in the spirit of Earth Day, all week we'll be featuring posts on what we can do as consumers, as well as photos of eco-friendly rings.