2 posts tagged “brilliant earth”
Not only do blog continue to pick up on the ethical engagement ring trend, mentioning my buddies at Brilliant Earth among others, but the media continues to be hot for the story.
I got yet another media referral from BrilliantEarth, this time about an article Glamour Magazine is working on. I provided a picture of my ring, a picture of the S.O. and I, plus my answer to the question "Why did you choose this ring and what does it mean to you?"
If they use our story it will be in the June issue.
If they don't, here's the answer I gave to the question:
"I've tried to be what I call a "conscious consumer" for the last 18 years. I try to buy organic. I try to pay attention to the politics behind my purchases. I vote at the ballot box every November, but I consider how I spend my money to be my economic vote. One of the biggest components of that is that I'm a vegetarian-turned-vegan, and even though my fiance is not a vegetarian, he has always been supportive...to the point he's agreed to a vegetarian wedding! So when we got engaged I had just started reading not only about the concept of "blood diamonds", but also about the environmental, labor and monopolistic issues around diamonds. I shared this info with my fiance, and like always he supported my decision to take a little time, research the various factors, and go for the purchase I could feel good about...for the rest of my life. Rather than boycott altogether I tried to purchase from a company that openly shared my ideals, featuring conflict-free Canadian diamonds, metals from sustainable or recycled resources, and a pledge to donate part of their profits to a fund that gives back to African communities. It meant a lot to us to have the opportunity to make such a big purchase mindfully...and I still got to have the big shiny!"
Wow, I've gotten more press mileage out of buying my engagement ring from Brilliant Earth! I certainly never expected that.
Here's yesterday's article in the L.A. Times.
Poor Brilliant Earth, though. Both when the SF Chronicle and the LA Times interviewed me I told stories about how great it was to find and work with Brilliant Earth. neither article even ever mentions that I was their customer. (And it was BE, by the way, who pointed the reporters in each case to me in the first place!)
At least the L.A. Times didn't go to quite as much effort to make me sound like an out-there hippy-dippy type. Here's the paragraph:
"The interest in ethical jewelry has been spurred by people like Elisa Camahort, a San Jose vegan who shops organic in food, clothing and other essentials, and writes a blog about how to be more eco-conscious. She said she was very aware of how she spent her money and didn't want to support "monopolistic" mining practices. She still wanted a diamond though.
"I'm trying to send a message to the market, rather than boycotting it overall," she said. "I want to find the ethical version.""
