When you shop at Karat, you shop without guilt, because our diamond procurement process exceeds US and international standards and guidelines aimed at reducing abuse and conflict tied to the diamond trade. We recognize that if we don’t speak out on this subject, then our customers might participate and contribute to the problem without being aware of it. Rest assured that buying your diamond from Karat eliminates this possibility entirely. We are building awareness and raising the bar for diamond sellers everywhere, which is good for everyone, including those affected by the abuse and conflict and also our customers.

Karat procurement voluntarily exceeds standards outlined by the US Patriot Act, United Nations resolutions and the Kimberly Process to also include not buying diamonds from conflict regions and countries where the revenue could fuel conflict and abuse.

Blood Diamonds, the Kimberly Process, UN Resolutions and the US Patriot Act

The diamond trade has an ugly side of which many are unaware. For over a decade during the 1990’s, much of the world’s diamonds came from regions of Africa steeped in civil unrest. An abundance of low-cost alluvial diamond fields, made diamond mining an immediate resource for armies in-need of regular funding sources. So they ruthlessly abused and exploited innocent people to fuel these need. Diamond demand around the world provided the cash these armies required, until the year 2000, when a group of southern African countries established the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), which was later adopted by the United Nations. This established independent auditing systems that track diamonds from place of origin to delivery. Further compliance standards have been established by the US Patriot Act, which requires every US dealer maintain Kimberly compliance or be subject to penalty from the Office of Homeland Security, the US Justice Department and the US Treasury.

The Karat Initiative

• We investigate each of our diamond sources from our own manufactured diamond as well as our diamond suppliers to drill down into their points of origination. Then we construct a supply chain path to assure that at no point in the process does conflict and abuse benefit.
• We deal only with reputable diamond manufacturers and suppliers that also recognize the importance of this issue, then verify their claims of compliance.
• Finally, we bind each of our suppliers by contract to commit to uphold these standards today and tomorrow, so the problem never reappears. Then we audit their processes periodically to verify their compliance.

So shop at Karat with confidence that your diamond is guilt-free and know you have done your part to eliminate conflict and abuse in the world today and tomorrow.