In our daily lives, we celebrate the value of diamonds through its representation of commitment, love, wealth, happiness, and we often associate the gemstone with the marking of important milestones in life. There are always two sides to the same coin. Overturning its glamorous and captivating surface appearance reveals a horrid underside many decide to turn a blind eye to. Many people in diamond-mining countries do not associate the same value we hold regarding these gemstones and instead, view it more as a demonic form of currency that has torn countries apart and brought environmental disaster to communities. With the advent of the 2006 political war film Blood Diamond, the public has slowly come to realise the ecological catastrophe and humanitarian crisis revolving around the mining of these diamonds, and are now demanding changes in consumer behaviour to adopt the purchasing of “conflict-free” diamonds. Adding to the failure and ineffective policies enacted by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, conflict diamonds continuously make up a portion of the diamond supply often becoming untraceable and indistinguishable from other ethically sourced counterparts once they have reached manufacturers. Diamonds mined in war zones are subsequently sold abroad to finance such insurgencies and to perpetuate the fighting. In the past thirty years, the countries of Angola, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe have faced coup d'états, civil wars, looting wars and other armed struggles financed mainly by the sale of diamonds and other conflict resources.

In tandem with humanitarian disaster, the environmental impact on the mining of diamonds is equally devastating. Discoveries of new mineral deposits subsequently lead to the deforestation and urban planning of the mining site, which not only contributes to the clearing of natural habitats but also collapses ecosystems that alleviate carbon emissions. Mining itself can lead to soil erosion and the deprivation of important natural nutrients found in soil which will then, in turn, contribute to deforestation. Even after a mine has shut its operations, the chemical composition and denutrition of the soil renders it useless for future human use such as agriculture or livestock farming: a process known as land degradation. Moreover, the machinery employed by miners emit a substantial amount of carbon dioxide equivalents which contribute further to the increasing carbon footprint. To mine a single carat of natural diamond, roughly 250 tonnes of earth is removed and 450 litres of water used, which culminates to around 50kg of carbon dioxide released into the earth’s fragile atmosphere. Lab-made diamonds are not only created in a fraction of the time it takes for natural ones to form, but they also have a minimal environmental and humanitarian impact. Here at 5 + 2, we take pride in our lab-made signature Diamond+ and Gemstone+ that are not only optically identical to natural diamonds and other gemstones but are consciously made in an effort to reduce our impact on the planet. When shopping with us, rest assured that with every purchase, you are taking part in a crucial paradigm shift in the jewellery world. We want to foster a community of like-minded individuals who foresee this industry to take a more sustainable journey in the future and to have confidence that these beautiful and enticing pieces of jewellery have a deeper ingrained and significant value worthy of passing down onto the next generation.