Octopus Overlords

Pandora produces more jewelry than any other company in the world. And on Tuesday, it announced a major change: It won't use any more mined diamonds in its products.

The Copenhagen-based company said it's instead shifting toward the use of diamonds created in labs, which it emphasized have the same "optical, chemical, thermal and physical characteristics." The collection, called Pandora Brilliance, is rolling out in the United Kingdom and expected to launch globally next year.

"They are as much a symbol of innovation and progress as they are of enduring beauty and stand as a testament to our ongoing and ambitious sustainability agenda," said Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik said in a statement. "Diamonds are not only forever, but for everyone."
...
Pandora announced last June that it will only use recycled gold and silver in its products by 2025.
...
The company targets mainstream buyers, which means diamond sales accounted for just 50,000 pieces of jewelry sold last year out of a total of 85 million. Yet it's still a significant move from a major player.

During last week’s Fairchild Media Group’s sustainability summit, “Sustainability Now: The Pressure Grows,” Sourcing Journal’s Kate Nishimura interviewed Pat Dambe, De Beers Group’s vice president, market outreach, natural diamonds, to share insights into how the company is promoting ethical and sustainable diamond mining. During the session, titled, “Building Forever: Blueprint for a Better Future,” Dambe discussed the origins of the Kimberley Process, the role of transparency and the implementation of its Provenance Solution and Tracr blockchain technology.

In 2003, De Beers and other diamond producers partnered with the U.N. to establish the Kimberley Process, which the organization notes is the process of uniting “administrations, civil societies and industry in reducing the flow of conflict diamonds — ‘rough diamonds used to finance wars against governments’ — around the world.”