How do you know your diamond's perfectly ethical?

Well not very easily it seems, according to a new survey carried out by Global Witness and Amnesty International UK. Apparently more than three-quarters (79%) of retailers who did respond reported having no auditing procedures in place to combat the trade in conflict diamonds. Almost a third (31%) of retailers surveyed failed to respond to repeated requests to provide information about their policies, including Cartier, House of Fraser and John Lewis, and nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (62%) don't post any information on their websites about their policies on conflict diamonds.

And an earlier survey in the US had similar depressing results with half of the 37 leading American jewellery retailers contacted failing to respond to requests to provide information about their policies on blood diamonds and 56% of those who did respond reporting having no auditing procedures in place to combat blood diamonds, despite the recommendation to do so by the trade association Jewellers of America. And 57% of the top US jewellers do not have any public information posted on their websites about their policies on blood diamonds.

New reports of diamond smuggling from West Africa, Zimbabwe and Venezuela highlight loopholes in the Kimberley Process, the intergovernmental diamond certification scheme designed to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds.

If you want to find out more, check out the buyer's guide from Global Witness.

And if you don't want blood on your hands, here are a few things to consider when choosing your gem:

• If you want to be absolutely sure that your diamond is conflict free and fair trade then the only option is to buy a certified and branded (with a miniscule polar bear image) diamond that has been mined, cut and polished in Canada. But they are pricey.
• You could decide that diamond mining in Sierra Leone, which is now a peaceful nation rebuilding itself after terrible conflict, is about the only viable industry there and offers its people a real prospect of a better life. If you choose to take this stance, avoid diamonds from the De Beers cartel and read what Martin Rapaport (who's trying to mine fair trade diamonds in Sierra Leone) has to say about the dilemmas of buying diamonds on his website diamonds.net.
• Ask your jeweller if he or she can guarantee that the diamond you are buying is conflict-free. If they're not interested in the issue then walk out the door and find one who is.
• Have an antique rock refashioned just for you by a creative jewellery designer/maker, or ask your family to donate the 'heirloom' to your very green union!

Check out our latest partner Fifi Bijoux for truly ethical rocks or search our partners' pages for more jewellers with an ethical outlook.