My conflict-free ring
May 31st, 2008 by Laura
I was engaged on 29 February after proposing to my H2B. It wasn’t exactly planned, so there were no rings exchanged on the said day. In fact, we had no idea how to go about things. So after the initial shock/excitement of deciding to get married, we set about trying to find a ring.
I guess this was my first insight into the swamp of information out there about weddings - what to buy, what to wear, where to go. Before long, we were feeling completely overwhelmed by websites, all flashing their wares for diamonds and gold, with price tags that seemed to range vastly.
Then I came across Ethical Weddings and conflict-free rings! I knew vaguely about jewellery playing a part in unstable countries, and we didn’t want to contribute further by supporting such regimes. So buying a conflict-free ring was indeed important for us, as well as knowing that a fair price had been paid to the supplier.
We got some advice from a forum and contacted Cred Jewellery about a ring. In fact, we were pretty impressed by their website and decided to go and visit their shop in Chichester. We hopped on a train one Saturday morning and found the shop not too far from the station.
The rings were just beautiful and I found one which was just what I wanted - modern and simple. The shop itself is quite modest, and not at all full-on with its sales pitch. In fact, the decor could have benefited from being a bit more stylish, to match the quality of its products.
Nonetheless, the staff were friendly and able to help us choose our ring and told us exactly where the diamonds and gold came from. We put in our order and deposit and they set about creating the ring. The production took a bit longer than we expected, and Cred were apologetic but eventually it arrived. The ring came with its own personalised information, with details of the mine in Canada, and fair trade gold from Columbia. It fitted perfectly and suddenly the engagement felt very real!
I showed the ring to my family and they were all really wowed by it and interested to learn more about ethical jewellery and conflict-free diamonds. They had little idea that such a thing existed, but on more thought began to see the importance of finding out as much as possible about where the things we buy come from.
Laura
Talk about finding ethical engagement and wedding rings in the Ethical Weddings Forum
I agree with supporting diamonds that come from safe, ethical environments. I know that diamonds now have to be marked with where they come from. Canada offers diamonds that are mined humanely.
Dagny McKinley
http://www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel
This ring is beautiful and a perfect example of how we can be eco conscious and stunning!
Our Cred wedding rings arrived today and frankly, I’m thrilled! They arrived exactly when they said they would, and the support we received from Reuben in the shop was fantastic. The rings themselves look stunning, and the information that arrived with them reduced me to a little emotional bundle. Cred genuinely care: they aren’t doing this because it’s fashionable or because there is money to be made in ethical jewellery. They are doing it because they genuinely believe there is a better way. I’m thrilled that our wedding rings haven’t damaged the environment, or poisoned someone’s water supply. I feel very good about it.. and isn’t that the way it’s meant to be?!