Jewelers react to film about conflict diamonds

For customers who want to know where their gems come from, The Clay Pot also offers guaranteed conflict-free diamonds from Canada. The diamonds are mined, cut and polished in Canada's Northwest Territories and are certified by the Northwest Territories Government Monitoring and Certification program, which tracks each diamond from the mining stage to the final cutting process.

"There's been an increasing popularity for them," Fiske said, noting that sales of the Canadian stones make up about 20 percent of total diamond purchases.

Despite their notorious reputation, less than 1 percent of the world's diamonds are conflict diamonds, says the World Diamond Council.

Still, some human rights organizations assert there needs to be more regulation in the U.S., which accounts for more than half of global diamond jewelry retail sales, according to British rights group Global Witness.

A 2004 survey of diamond jewelers conducted by Amnesty International and Global Witness showed only 11 percent of stores visited in the U.S. said they had a policy on conflict diamonds, and 67 percent were unwilling to discuss whether they had a system of guarantees in place.

Charmian Gooch, executive director of Global Witness, said the Kimberley Process needs more work.

"It's still full of loopholes," Gooch said. "There's no proper oversight and no clear way to know how the industry is controlling it across the board."

Amy O'Meara, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International, suggests consumers take an active role in the process by asking jewelers where their diamonds come from, since even the smaller percentages of illegal diamonds need to be eliminated.

"Ask to see a written guarantee that its suppliers are conflict-free," O'Meara said. "No amount of human suffering is acceptable to turn a profit."

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