KinetIQue: IQ Diamonds are Mother Earth’s Best Friend

KinetIQue is an award-winning UK based ethical luxury jewellery company that produces innovative lab-grown diamonds.

A diamond is supposed to be a symbol of love, commitment and purity – but for those living in diamond-rich countries diamonds have done more damage than good. In fact, the diamond mining industry often represents the reckless pursuit of profit without regards for people’s lives or the environment. If the diamond industry produces beautiful sparkling stones, it has also produced: colonialism, violence, civil wars, worker exploitation, environmental degradation, and eco-system extinction.

In the case of both Angola and Congo, colonialism obliterated whatever political culture may have predated the arrival of Europeans. Their brutalities left behind a place where almost no Angolans and Congolese had any training in statecraft, business or agriculture. The meddling of colonialists, superpowers and white governments was all but gone at the start of the 1990’s, leaving diamonds, oil and other natural resources as the primary forage source for rebels and governments. And thus creating the miserable “Blood Diamond”, a term used for a diamond mined in a war zone and sold to finance “an insurgency, an invading army’s war efforts, or a warlord’s activity”. According to the New York Times “where governments are corrupt, rebels are pitiless and borders are porous, as in Angola, Congo or Sierra Leone, the glittering stones (diamonds) have become agents of slave labor, murder, dismemberment, mass homelessness and wholesale economic collapse” (You can read the full and very interesting article by the New York Times HERE)

According to The Green Diamond Organisation even the “so called ‘conflict-free’ Canada diamond mines are often [cause for concern as they are built] in environmentally fragile ecosystems, have significant ecological footprints, and will significantly impact upon the caribou, wolverine, bears, ptarmigan and fish which provide food for Aboriginal peoples”.

Each year over 150 million carats of diamonds are extracted from the Earth through mining, and to do so numerous amounts of soil have to be removed and processed. 1750 tons of Earth has to be extracted in order to find a 1.0ct rough diamond. An average engagement ring diamond size in the 1920’s was 0.30ct, today larger rings are on the rise and the average is 1.25ct.

With the diamond-mining industry’s horrific legacy, KinetIQue offers a welcomed alternative product. KinetlQue’s lab grown diamond called the “IQ Diamond” is made up of a combination of a pure diamond CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) mantle grown directly onto the surface of a super-white high tech ceramic core in a laboratory using advanced technology under strict conditions. Visually the IQ diamond is identical to mined diamonds and it is impossible to distinguish between the two without magnification or testing equipment.

KinetlQue’s jewellery is 100% environmentally friendly: the diamond creation process does not involve an extensive mining process. Their innovative IQ Diamond compares to the finest mined diamond available on the market (in terms of colour, internal perfection, and cut) but is more affordable. A 2 carat mined diamond of the same credentials retails for up to £40,000, whereas an IQ Diamond is less than a tenth of that cost at £2,000.

The IQ diamonds also tests positive for diamond due to the pure diamond layer grown around the outside of the core (which in itself is nearly as tough as a mined diamond). According to KinetlQue, this diamond “will give a strong positive test for both the electrical and thermal conductivity found in mined diamonds. This is because the mantle of the IQ Diamond has exactly the same physical and chemical structure found in naturally occurring diamonds.” It comes fully certified, is guaranteed for life and has a microscopic laser inscription for ethical identification. It is the world’s first hybrid diamond that tests positive for diamond and is exclusive to KinetIQue. This company’s eco-friendly practices can be seen in the sum of the product by offering a choice of fair-trade and recycled gold throughout their entire jewellery line (to read more about fair-trade gold visit a pervious post HERE).

According to KineIQue, “there is nothing very meaningful about mined diamonds if we stop for a moment and think about the harm that is done to extract them from mother nature. Telling consumers that diamonds have history and hold more sentiment than laboratory grown diamonds, is just a ploy that diamond retailers use to succeed in justifying the high cost of mined diamonds. The IQ Diamond is an eco-conscious choice that is sustainable and free from conflict – unlike diamond mining, the IQ Diamond is kind to the environment and free from humanitarian issues.”

KinetIQue have won an award for “Tomorrow’s Contribution to Sustainability” at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards 2016. The company was also shortlisted for Sustainable Business of the Year & Business Innovation of the Year by the Cornwall Business Awards 2017.

KinetIQue jewellery is a great sustainable and eco-friendly option for those of us who love beautiful sparkling stones! From experience (the brand sent me their stunning “Enya” ring as a loan for my photoshoot) I could not tell the difference between their IQ diamonds and the mined diamonds on my other rings. The stone colour was absolutely perfect and sparkled beautifully. I will definitely be looking at KinetIQue diamond jewellery the next time I want to treat myself to a piece of luxurious jewellery and will also be recommending them to those friends on the road to marriage!

Check out KinetIQue beautiful diamond jewellery and engagement rings on their website