Why do Diamonds have to be a "girls best friend"?

They are expensive, cold, and complex. They are pretty, but I find them rather plain, but most of all....a little "generic". What made the diamond a symbol for love and "foreverness" anyways? And why is it sooo important in an engagement to get a diamond? I have asked myself this question for years.

I, myself love Emeralds. I suppose it is because they are GREEN, my favorite color. There is something majestic about an emerald. Mysterious and alluring. A sapphire is sophisticated and bold. A diamond...well is just supposed to be BIG......and CLEAR!

I just dont get it.

When Nick and I were searching for an engagement ring a while back (something we put on hold some time ago) he was not surprised in the least that I did not want a diamond. He had no idea how hard it would be to get an emerald engagement ring though. As he was on his search, he was told that "emeralds are too soft for everyday wear" and that a diamond is the hardest stone. So, how convenient that the most durable stone, is also the hardest to find, and the "plainest" of them all?

I have never been crazy about jewelry. Clothes....yes, perfume...absolutely, but jewelry has never been my thing. I guess that is why when I watched the movie Blood Diamond, I was sooo outraged. Most of my friends wear them, and the bigger the better. I will tell you that I would rather have a big one than a small one, myself.......but I would really rather not have one at all.

Not all diamonds are mined in Africas war zones. Not all diamonds are sold to buy fire arms and violate peace treaties.One in two diamonds comes from southern Africa (Namibia, Botswana and South Africa), where democratic governments use funds from diamond production to support growth and prosperity for its people....but how do you know which is which?

De Beers, came up with the fraze "A Diamond is Forever" in 1947 and that is around the time that the engagement ring started to be recognized as a Diamond Solitaire. Before that, engagement rings were of all stones of every color and group. From semi-precious to most commonly precious stones such as diamonds,emeralds,rubies, sapphires, etc. Tiffany's even had a very famous "Tiffany Diamond Engagement Ring" that we still see today! (notice that "diamond" had to be specified, because it was not AS common).

JFK proposed to Jacqueline with an Emerald engagement ring with diamonds surrounding it, (picture above) and Princess Diana made her engagement ring famous, with a huge sapphire in the center.

While I do like diamonds, I dont think that I am a diamond girl at all, and a few small ones here and there make me feel less guilty because maybe a small child didnt lose his arm over it.

NOTE:

De Beers hasn't done business in Sierra Leone or Liberia since the mid-1980s. It has adhered to diamond sanctions the United Nations imposed on Angola since they were announced in June 1998 and has worked with Robert Fowler, who heads the U.N. sanctions committee, in overseeing the ban. It also recently decided to cut off all purchases of diamonds from Angola when it became apparent that even government-sold diamonds might be tainted. De Beers is considering suspending buying operations in West and Central Africa due to ongoing concerns about the uses of diamonds in those regions.

Although many diamonds are mined in war zones and many people are treated as slaves in Africa in the diamond trade (something that I feel is very hypocritical for racist rappers who wear "bling"- unless they are taking the time to find a "non-conflict" diamond.) There are still some that arent, but you have to do your research...the person at the counter at your jewelry store may not be the best source of info.