Diamond Investment History Gets A Green And Nuclear Upgrade

Diamonds have been a captivating topic for people across history, but recently there were a couple of new business investment chapters added that include the environment and the tough market of recycling nuclear material.

Although many people are interested in large-sized or rare diamonds like the Hope Diamond or the Foxfire Diamond, as previously reported by the Inquisitr, there are others that are being sought after as innovations or investments.

For example, in the past 10 years, the major headlines about diamonds in the business world has been concerning their source. In particular, getting rid of the practices that created “conflict diamonds” was of paramount importance because children were used to mine diamonds, according to a 2010 report from Reuters.

Now, diamonds are breaking through into the energy market, and business investors are also looking at a new type of diamond that is commonly referred to as a “green” or environmentally friendly option.

New Atlas reports on November 28 that the next wave of both recycling nuclear waste and also energy investing might be the nuclear diamond. Obviously, nuclear waste has been difficult to repurpose, contain, or recycle since the beginning.

However, researchers at the University of Bristol converted nuclear waste into lab-created diamonds that function as low-grade batteries that are alleged to last for up to a couple of thousand years.

As it appears, investors may have more opportunities to add nuclear diamonds to their portfolios because a conference by top scientists about their research on nuclear diamonds recently ended on December 2 in Boston, Massachusetts, according to the Materials Research Society.

The green and nuclear diamond investments might be ideal for anyone with gems in their portfolios because some types of diamond industries are gaining new opponents.

Business Insider explained in an opinion piece in 2013 that diamond engagement rings being sold as an “investment” are a sham. In engagement ring form, the diamonds are not going to sell for a return on investment in the market. In other words, do not buy diamond jewelry and expect to be able to gain a profit in the short-term if you are in a financial pinch.

Adding to this, the diamond jewelry industry has been losing profits because of near-perfect man-made diamonds, according to a November 6 report from Wall Street Journal. For example, De Beers has been particularly hit hard and they are one of the top diamond investment opportunities.

Although the history of “blood diamonds” or conflict diamonds has been declining because of the Kimberley Certificate Process, there are still some opponents to investing in diamonds from certain areas of the world.

For example, on December 1, KGW reported that Muhammad Ali’s daughter, Khaliah Ali, was investing in a Portland, Oregon, company that focused on being “environmentally friendly” because they were lab-created diamonds.

According to reports, MiaDonna recently created a 6.28 carat lab-created diamond that sets a historic record for being the largest ever produced outside of nature.

This historic diamond company captured the attention of Khaliah Ali because there are still allegations of atrocities associated with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Khaliah Ali’s father played an important boxing match in the DRC on October 30, 1974, and drawing attention to the poor working conditions of diamond mines in that country was important to her.

On top of investing in an eco-friendly diamond company, Khaliah Ali works with MiaDonna’s founder, Anna-Mieke Anderson, to promote the Greener Diamond Foundation. This organization specifically works with children that have suffered at the hands of the diamond mining industry in their countries.

One other way that the environment is being emphasized is through an online pawn shop website called Worthy.com where individuals can place their diamonds for sale. Since the diamonds being sold are previously owned, they are not creating a need for new diamonds to be mined.

Forbes paraphrased Worthy.com’s owner, Benny De-Kalo, on November 3 stating the following about his “diamond mine.”

“[T]here is up to $1 trillion worth of diamonds in drawers, jewelry boxes and in safes around the world and 40 percent of that value is in the U.S. In addition to diamond engagement rings, $8 billion to $9 billion dollars in jewels and watches are inherited.”

Alternatively, some diamonds are being valued not as an investment, but as a way to invest in good causes. Castanet wrote on December 1 that diamonds are being auctioned online to specifically raise money for charities in the Kelowna, Canada, community.

In the end, for anyone that wants to invest in diamonds as much as possible, there is some hope because there are currently two diamond mines for sale in South Africa, according to Rapaport News.

[Feature Image by REB/Getty Images]