How ethical are salt and pepper diamonds?

Salt and pepper diamonds have become enormously popular in engagement rings in the last 10 years.  They’ve sprung up as an alternative to the traditional clear diamond and their more organic look and abundance of natural inclusions has made them appeal to a different type of customer.  

It might seem to make sense that because they are different or ‘alternative’ in one sense then they will be in others too but, ‘salt and pepper diamonds’ face the same supply chain issues that other diamonds do and are not ,by definition, more ethical.

Salt and Pepper diamonds v normal diamonds

The only difference between salt and pepper diamonds and other diamonds is the number of inclusions they have.  Inclusions are natural imperfections inside a diamond crystal.

Traditionally diamonds which have the fewest inclusions were the only ones used in jewellery.  Today, diamonds with few or no natural inclusions are still the most highly sought after, and valuable, but diamonds that have more inclusions are now popular too.

Most of the ethical issues that affect diamonds start at the mines and a salt and pepper diamond could come from exactly the same mine as a normal diamond.  

How ethical are salt and pepper diamonds

Salt and pepper diamonds, like all diamonds sold in the UK must conform to the Kimberley process, though this does not mean that you can be guaranteed they have been ethically sourced.  The Kimberley Process was established in 2003, however, since then it has been widely criticised and NGOs who supported its creation have withdrawn that support.

Salt and pepper diamonds can be found in the same locations as other types of diamonds and therefor the same issues with working conditions, pay, conflict etc, can apply to salt and pepper diamonds as they can with any other diamonds.

There are currently no independently validated vendors offering ethically sourced diamonds.

An upside to salt and pepper diamonds now being used in jewellery, is that their price has increased.  This means that miners can now expect to get a higher price for stones that they find. Diamonds that would ,in the past, have been used industrially and therefore fetched very low prices are now worth more.

If you are interested in the issues that affect the diamond supply chain and want to learn more about the Kimberley process then our articles ‘ethical diamonds’ and ‘Is the Kimblery process a guarantee that your diamonds have been ethically sourced’ go into the subject in more depth.

If you are shopping for a salt and pepper diamond then bear in mind that you need to ask the same questions that you would with any other diamond and we’d be interested to hear about your experiences.

A key question to ask a jeweller when looking at diamonds is ‘where does it come from?’. If a jeweller cant tell you where a diamond is from then there’s no way that they can know if it’s been ethically sourced or not.