Blue Nile, along with the global diamond industry, has a zero-tolerance policy toward conflict diamonds. Through measures such as the Kimberley Process, which tracks diamonds from mine to market, the industry in partnership with the United Nations, governments, and non-governmental organizations, polices diamond exports to prevent the trade of illegal diamonds. At Blue Nile, we only purchase diamonds through the largest and most respected suppliers who, like us, proudly adhere to and enforce the standards established by the Kimberley Process. All Blue Nile diamonds are warranted to be conflict free. If one of our suppliers was ever found to be in violation of that process, we would immediately sever that relationship. We will continue to support and promote any process that works to uphold legitimacy in the diamond trade. Diamonds are mined throughout the world, including major mines in Australia, Africa, Russia and Canada. Diamonds are a major source of good in many African nations, employing and providing healthcare to thousands. For more information on this issue.

Blue Nile supports the Kimberley process, which is an International process to track and certify diamonds. In April 2003, congress and President Bush passed a law adopting the Kimberley Process that requires all US diamond retailers to buy diamonds from manufacturers who have documentation warranting that the merchandise was obtained through legitimate channels. Today, the US Customs Service actively enforces the Kimberley Process requirements as diamonds enter American ports.

Blue Nile is committed to ensuring that the highest ethical standards are observed when sourcing our diamonds and jewelry. Because of the reported human rights abuses in Zimbabwe's Marange diamond district, Blue Nile will not purchase or offer diamonds from that area. As a responsible member of the diamond and jewelry industry, we are working with our suppliers to ensure our consumers receive only the finest goods procured from ethical sources.

In addition to our proud adherence to stringent standards for ethically sourced diamonds, we are also bringing sustainability and ethical sourcing to our gold and metals. This includes sourcing responsibly mined gold in respect to environmental and human rights factors.

Across our business, Blue Nile observes the highest ethical standards. We insist our business partners do the same. This extends to our gold sourcing. The issue of responsible mining is an important one and deserves our attention. As a signatory of Earthworks' No Dirty Gold Golden Rules, we will:

• Work to ensure that our gold and metals come from suppliers that meet the highest human rights, social, and environmental criteria.
• Engage suppliers to influence the sourcing of gold products.
• Research mining, refinement, and manufacturing practices of gold that moves through the supply chain.
• Give preference to suppliers that source gold from mines that observe high standards of environmental stewardship.
• In concert with our suppliers, commit to increased gold sourcing from recycled and secondary sources.
• Measure and establish benchmarks with a goal of continuous improvement.

Blue Nile views its policy on responsible mining as an evolving standard. It commits to continuously review our position with the goal of expanding it over time to have the broadest possible impact.

Lab-grown diamonds are an increasingly popular choice for ethical jewelry. These are conflict-free diamonds that forgo the mining process and are, instead, created in a laboratory setting. These lab stones are real diamonds that have been manufactured instead of mined. They are an excellent choice for ethical diamonds to be used in rings, bracelets, necklaces or earrings.