Want Conflict-Free? NY Post Says Try Synthetics
An article in the New York Post today called Diamonds Without Guilt suggests that consumers looking for alternatives to “politically incorrect conflict diamonds” choose synthetic diamonds instead. The article, which also suggests diamonds from Canada as an alternative, goes on to spotlight Solaura jewelry set with Gemesis synthetic diamonds, Canadia brand diamonds from Canada, Rand brand diamonds from South Africa and Botswana, and Brilliant Earth, an online retailer who sells Canadian diamonds and has generated a lot of publicity about the conflict diamond issue. The article is full of little mistakes which make it a little hard to take seriously. (Fittingly, Guilt is misspelled on several of the links to the online story) Rand diamonds are said to be from Arapa and Jaaneng, not Orapa and Jwaneng, Canadia diamonds are available at “Fortune-Off.” (Seriously: the New York Post has never heard of Fortunoff’s?) The lead of the story is that synthetic diamonds are 75 percent less than natural but the price comparison is based on the best colors of fancy colored diamonds. Much later in the story the article explains that synthetics are only about 10 percent less than natural colorless diamonds. But the story is a big publicity boost for Solaura, the brand that sightholder Michael Werdiger created to sell jewelry set with Gemesis synthetic diamonds. The article even refers to the Solaura site, where you can see a pretty impressive list of retailers that carry the brand. It’s probably less beneficial for the other brands mentioned just because some readers may think that they sell synthetics too.
Ready to read more about conflict diamonds? With Blood Diamond already in previews and officially opening this week, you have no choice, really.
The New York Times had an article on Blood Diamond this weekend called Hollywood’s Multifaceted Cause du Jour. The point was basically that an industry that lives by celebrity placement and endorsements can also die by them.
Today’s USA Today is skeptical that a message movie about Africa will be a big-budget success. The article, Blood Diamond in the Rough, is pretty balanced, with quotes from Sierra Leone and not just the usual suspects. I’m getting pretty tired of all the diamond puns in the headlines though and the movie doesn’t even open until Thursday.
