That’s right, friends. The good people at Apollo Diamond will now grow you a perfect diamond for about the same price as a real diamond. Plus, it comes with its very own birth certificate!

Okay, I know I sound like I’m mocking this, but actually I think it’s a really great thing.

As most people know, diamonds come with a heavy price-tag (and I’m not talking about your bank account). Remember this movie? Yeah, it stirred quite a controversy, mostly because people over here in the U.S. of A. didn’t (want to) know the truth behind diamond mining. But the truth is, diamonds cause a lot of blood shed in parts of Africa, especially in Liberia and Cote D’Ivoire, but also in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), and Sierra Leone.

A conflict diamond is a diamond that was used to raise money for the various terrorist and rebel militias in these countries. It accounts for a lot of the diamonds you see here in stores in the West. Strangely, in the United States, there is no way for a store to guarantee that a diamond is or is not a conflict diamond. Canada has at least set up a voluntary tracking system (so stores can sell only guaranteed conflict-free diamonds, if they choose), but there are still Canadian jewelers who choose to, frankly, just not bother.

Slowly, however, more and more companies are becoming conscious of the horrors related to diamond mining in Africa; Apollo Diamond leading the way.

This is a very hot topic at the moment and one that everyone should learn more about. To read more about conflict diamonds, check out this UN page.

In the meantime, ladies, consider either man-made diamonds (it’s almost like growing a Chia Pet) or another stone entirely.

What do you think, eventual potential brides? Man-made diamond? Ruby? Just a band? Or do you have your heart set on a real diamond, human cost be damned?

[Image courtesy of http://www.funny-potato.com]