The beauty of a diamond extracted from the ground carries a cost that consumers rarely consider. Before arriving in a piece of jewellery, a mined diamond has left behind considerable traces — on landscapes, ecosystems and local populations.
Mining Methods
There are two primary extraction methods:
Open pit mining involves stripping entire layers of earth and rock to access the ore beneath. The rock is blasted, loaded onto trucks and transported to industrial crushing facilities. The holes left in the landscape are visible from space.
Underground mining, also known as hard rock mining, involves drilling galleries down to the deposits. Two parallel tunnels are typically bored; the ore between them is blasted to fall and be collected.
Environmental Consequences
Even when conducted under the best regulatory conditions, diamond mining causes:
- Deforestation of surrounding areas
- Soil erosion and destruction of natural habitats
- Water contamination from chemicals used in ore processing
- Massive consumption of water and energy
- CO₂ emissions from transportation and machinery
To extract a single carat of diamond, an average of several hundred tonnes of rock must be displaced.
Lab-Grown Diamonds as a Response
Lab-grown diamonds offer an alternative with a controlled environmental impact. Their primary impact comes from the energy required for their growth — which is why laboratories using renewable energy produce the most ecological diamonds.
At Origine Paris, the choice of lab-grown diamonds is a deeply held conviction. We refuse to allow the beauty of our jewellery to be obtained at the expense of the planet. This is why each of our diamonds is laboratory-grown, IGI-certified, with complete traceability of origin.