We now have the opportunity to pro actively address the shadow, or toxic side of the jewelry industry in a truthful way. The emotional trigger issues, such as mining, blood diamonds and a host of other concerns actually make our industry a very easy target.

As jewelry designers and manufacturers, we can embrace this opportunity or we can continue to live in denial. If we choose the latter, we run the risk of unsympathetic people running full page ads in the New York Times, simplifying the complexities to push their own agendas-similar to what happened with the fur industry in the seventies and eighties. It seems that the industry has gotten away with its complicity in the death of 3.7 million Africans in the blood diamond genocide. But just imagine, for example, what would happen if Al Qaeda was caught using diamonds to finance operations that killed just one American. It would tarnish the whole industry.

Of course, we all know that blood diamonds are a red herring, a symptom of a much greater issue which is industry wide: ethical sourcing based on fair labor and environmentally responsible practice. These issues, and the real havoc involved in the destruction of communities involved the unethical trade, have taken a back seat to the drive for profit.

For those of us in the jewelry industry, the moral questions require truthful soul searching. Would you or your customer feel good about a wedding ring if it was created by maltreated labor or materials that trashed the environment? Is ignoring this question morally acceptable? Does our expression of love (and that is often what jewelry is about for us and the customer) just extend to our intimate ones; or beyond them to the greater human family? Or is your jewelry business, what you really pay attention to, just about love of the bottom line? If that is the case, what will that leave when you die? It takes real courage to even consider these issues, but there is a greater danger for those who ignore them.