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]

For Christmas one year, my first boyfriend shocked the hell out of me by buying me this beautiful emerald and diamond necklace set in white gold (because he knew how much I hated gold jewelry). I was stunned. And pissed because I had only gotten him a new nice set of knives and a copy of The Ladies Man on DVD. I honestly didn’t think we were close enough for jewelry, or that he even liked me enough to buy me something so obviously gorgeous and expensive.

Turns out, I was right. We broke up two months later amidst screaming fights and accusations and I couldn’t wear that damn necklace anymore, not because I didn’t like it, but because he had given it to me.

I wish ExBoyfriendJewelry.com had been around then, so something good could have come from the whole relationship debacle. On the website, not only can you sell the jewelry that the bastard (or that wonderful guy you f*cked over) gave you instead of giving it back, or throwing it away, or letting it sit in your creepy Jeff shrine, or whatever, but you can also buy jewelry from similarly situated women and give it, in a sense, new life.

Each item comes with its own delightful story about the boyfriend who bought it, like this gem from “FreefromFrank”: always wanted Tiffany jewelry from a boyfriend. Well, I finally got my wish but with some drama. Turns out he bought the same exact pieces for his WIFE! Doh!! He was married. She’s the one that told me all about it the day she called my office freaking out.

Ex-BoyfriendJewelry.com presents itself as a welcoming, sympathetic alternative to a pawn shop or a consignment shop and it is, giving it’s patrons more than just a couple of bucks and some extra room in the jewelry box. Indeed, the site provides some comfort to the ex-girlfriends (and, the website insists, ex-boyfriends too) and shows them that they are not the only ones who are, perhaps, weighed down by lovely jewelry and not-so-lovely emotional baggage attached to it.

Golf cart or electric car? It doesn’t matter! It’s adorable!

Video: Only Paris Hilton’s best friend would be the kinda girl to release a sex tape, get butt implants, then pose naked…just like her mother.

On Tom Cruise: “He taps into the zeitgeist,” says Cruise’s business partner, Paula Wagner. He also taps into crazy. And delusional.

Five minute nose job? I need it now!

Missed L.A. Ink this season? Let us catch you up!

Hey, everyone! New buzzword for 2008! FLILF! Yeah…it’s kinda gross to me too.

Chocolate gold or chocolate gold? It’s up to you!

Arkansas man nearly throws away a million little girl’s dreams. Or a 4.3 carat diamond. Whatever.

Is oral sex really ‘sex’? Let us know what you think!