Popping the question- but at what environmental cost?
For most couples, finding the perfect engagement ring is the very first step in the process of spending the rest of your lives together. The ring is a promise to the other person that they will be loved, cherished, comforted and cared for their whole lifetime. For generations, diamonds have traditionally been the ideal stone for an engagement ring- representing commitment and everlasting love.
However, over the past few years, the demand for diamond rings has dwindled. The stone, once prized for being an icon of luxury and treasured for its rarity and value, is no longer as popular as it once was. With increasing awareness of the issues surrounding the procurement of diamonds among millennials who are looking to get married, couples are now turning to alternatives that are equally beautiful and infused with great sentimental value of their own for their engagement rings.
Recently, we spoke to our friends at Luna, a Singapore home-grown company which produces handcrafted Moissanite engagement rings, to find out the reasons for the dwindling interest in diamonds. Here’s what we found out!
Reasons for the declining demand of mined diamond jewellery
Millennials looking to get married are now sourcing for alternatives to diamond engagement rings because of the growing awareness of environmental and ethical concerns with regards to the mining and processing process of diamonds.
According to a study conducted by Bain in 2012, diamond mines produce immense amounts of greenhouse gasses, pollution and mining site waste. These elements contribute to the growing climate change crisis occurring worldwide. The mining of diamonds continues to be an immensely damaging activity to its surroundings and the world overall, creating environmental hazards in countries in which mining is carried out.
Most people are familiar with the term “blood diamonds”, and many are growing increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding diamond mining. Many companies producing diamond jewellery are not able to track the source of their diamonds or ensure that their diamonds are sourced ethically.
According to the Human Rights Watch, there have been reports of the use of child labour in the diamond mining process in less developed countries, mistreatment of the local population in the area, often troubled by political instability, corruption and the funding of war crimes. The Human Rights Watch has also labelled diamond mining as one of the worst forms of child labour, exposing children to extreme levels of danger working to extract diamonds from the earth.
Choosing alternatives- and which ones may be the best for you!
Moissanite, discovered by a French scientist in 1893 in traces of meteorite, is naturally present in small amounts in nature. In 1995, a patent was granted to produce lab-grown Moissanite. The cost of a Moissanite stone can be a tenth of the cost of a diamond, and this meant that the stone became more popular as an option for more couples.
Moissanites are lab-produced and impossible to differentiate from a diamond- in that they are visually identical. Both stones are comparable to each other in their levels of colour and clarity. Our friends at Luna have shared that Moissanite stones are sometimes even more visually attractive than diamonds due to their highly refractive properties- producing beautiful fiery rainbow flashes that cause them to appear more “sparkly” or “glittery” than diamonds!
More about Luna
This year at Knotz SG’s Bridal Fair in January, held at The Secret Patio at Duxton Hill, we met the Luna team while we were on-site greeting many excited couples looking for various options for their wedding. We were inspired by their philosophies- a genuine belief in the celebration of love, as well as a strong conviction that this celebration should not come at the price of the environmental degradation caused by the negative impacts of diamond mining. With 40 years of jewellery design and crafting experience, there’s sure to be something that catches your eye.
We at Chris Chang Photography have witnessed and captured on camera countless beautiful rings from proposals and ring exchanges during weddings. We know how integral this small but extremely significant piece of jewellery can be to a couple, symbolizing their eternal commitment to each other. We’re proud to be collaborating with a company that is driven with a common passion for celebrating love, and compassionate about the world we live in.
For all of our blog article readers, we’d like to welcome you on behalf of Luna to enjoy 12% off Luna products with the code CHRIS12. This discount code will be valid till 30th April 2022.
Visit Luna’s website at www.forluna.co to find out more!
