Quick and Easy Buying Guide
Carat weight: 1 carat = 200 milligrams = 6.5 mm diameter. Doubling weight doesn't double diameter.
Diamond clarity: FL/IF/VVS/VS = super expensive, near perfect. SI = best value if you can check a photo for obvious inclusions (defects).
Color: D-G = colorless, expensive, only if you have money to burn. H-J = best value. Can go lower in gold metal settings than white metal.
Cut: Better cut ratings let more light into a diamond, making it sparkle more. Very important property, don't skimp here.
Set a budget and minimum cut (Premium). Go J color for gold and I/H for white metals. Go searching for SI1/SI2 clarity diamonds at James Allen. Pick a diamond with small/no inclusions. Choose a ring setting and buy it risk-free (60-day returns).
Blood Diamonds And Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campell is a British supermodel is known to the public for her modelling, but also a number of high profile incidents, the most recent of these the claim in 2010 that she had received blood diamonds from Charles Taylor at a charity function in South Africa in 1997.
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The reason this case has received so much publicity is not just the core topic of blood diamonds, but also the circumstances surrounding the claims. Campell initially refused invitations from the prosecution of a court case to provide testimony, claiming she was worried about the security of herself and her family, and also claiming inconvenience.
It was this claim of inconvenience which led to a huge backlash in the media, with Naomi rightly or wrongly being portrayed as being grossly insensitive to an important global human rights issue.
When she was finally forced to appear in court when she was served with a subpoena, she gave testimony with Charles Taylor present in the court.
The testified that after a charity dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1997, two men woke her up and gave her a gift of some "dirty looking stones." She gave the diamonds to a member of the charity who confirmed that they still have them quite recently, after a vehement denial initially by the charity.
Unfortunately, in the public media the trial has become just as much about Naomi as about the core issue of Charles Taylor and his involvement in crimes against humanity.