Ethical product havens in the global diamond trade: Using the Wayback Machine to evaluate ethical market outcomes

Who benefits from ethical product markets? While most ethical products (e.g. fair trade and eco-certified products) are intended to benefit marginalized communities and vulnerable ecosystems, the reality is that the geographic preferences exhibited by so-called ethical markets may, in fact, reinforce global inequities rather than remedy them. It can be difficult to evaluate the outcomes of ethical product markets, however, because we are often limited to data from a small number of industries with widely used standards and certifications. This research pilots a new methodology, using an online archive—the Wayback Machine, to evaluate shifts in countries' ethical market share, focusing on the evolution of the ethical diamond market over the past 20 years. The ethical diamond market is an interesting case because it began specifically as a competition among countries of origin, with Canadian officials and diamond producers trading on Canada's reputation to position Canada as an ethical product haven in opposition to conflict diamonds from Africa. Yet, Canada's early ethical monopoly has been contested on multiple fronts, and this article focuses on the following questions: To what extent has the contestation over Canada's ethical monopoly actually changed the ethical diamond market? Specifically, how much market share have different ethical alternatives gained and lost over time? And, what does this tell us about the governance and development outcomes of the market? The results show that while the market has diversified over time, it is still largely not benefiting the most marginalized diamond producing countries and communities.

Diamonds Certify Themselves: Multivariate Statistical Provenance Analysis

The country or mine of origin is an important economic and societal issue inherent in the diamond industry. Consumers increasingly want to know the provenance of their diamonds to ensure their purchase does not support inhumane working conditions. Governments around the world reduce the flow of conflict diamonds via paper certificates through the Kimberley Process, a United Nations mandate. However, certificates can be subject to fraud and do not provide a failsafe solution to stopping the flow of illicit diamonds. A solution tied to the diamonds themselves that can withstand the cutting and manufacturing process is required. Here, we show that multivariate analysis of LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) diamond spectra predicts the mine of origin at greater than 95% accuracy, distinguishes between natural and synthetic stones, and distinguishes between synthetic stones manufactured in different laboratories by different methods. Two types of spectral features, elemental emission peaks and emission clusters from C-N and C-C molecules, are significant in the analysis, indicating that the provenance signal is contained in the carbon structure itself rather than in inclusions.

Diamond Trafficking

This chapter addresses diamond trafficking in four sections: the nature and extent of the harm; the structure of diamond trafficking (considered in terms of source, transit and demand); regulation and control; and finally a discussion about diamond trafficking as illicit business enterprise. The controversy around conflict diamonds is reviewed, along with the routines of mining, trafficking, refining and the marketplace. The changing nature of the international diamond market is noted, and the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is discussed along with its critics. In the final section, we consider the symbolic nature of diamonds and the ideological work that has gone into creating this symbolism. Reports from brokers and traffickers in the diamond market are referred to in support of the proposition that diamond trafficking is framed by participants as ‘just business’.