BLOOD DIAMONDS

This piece was an investigation in the controversy surrounding conflict diamonds from Africa. I was interested in creating a piece that would interact with the wearer by showing a link to the origin of diamonds, and also the idea of enslavement in the diamond industry. Once a diamond is cut and polished its origins become forgotten, the wearer free from being reminded of the stones bloody beginnings.

A quote from the National Geographic Documentary about how “ the people are slaves to the diamonds” left a powerful visual image in my head. The people of these war torn countries are forced to dig for diamonds by the rebel groups in charge, which are funded by consumers who buy these diamonds, enforcing slavery. Consumers intern are slaves to the marketing that has created this obsession with diamonds.

This cycle is represented in the bracelet by the hand the wraps around the wearer’s wrist forming a symbolic cuff. I also wanted to play with traditional stone settings, using fingers of the hand to act like the prongs, holding an uncut stone in place further reminding the wearer that the stone comes out of the ground via human labor. The emphasis on the organic nature of the cuff is intended to show the raw and rough production side of diamond jewelry, rather then the polished and perfected pieces we often associate with.