JVA Presentation

Diamonds for Peace volunteer Beth West, presented at the Jewellery Valuers Association (JVA) Conference, a three-day event for jewellers and gemmologists held in Loughborough, England in September 2022.

Beth was the trainer on site for the Basic Training on Rough Diamond Grading and Valuation workshop convened by Diamonds for Peace in April 2022. The purpose of the talk, entitled ‘Diamonds don’t Fly Planes’ was to raise awareness of our work through offering the audience a personal insight into her experiences whilst visiting Liberia.

[Testimonials]

“We, as a trade, should do so much more to help such communities, the very backbone/starting point of our industry. Thank you for bringing my attention to such a situation”
-Alan Hayes FGA DGA Jewellery consultant and valuer

“I recently attended the JVA conference, where Beth West was a keynote speaker. I can honestly say it was an eye-opening experience. After nearly thirty years in the jewellery trade, with diamond and gemological qualifications under my belt, I thought I had a fairly good grasp of how the diamond world worked. It turns out that when it comes to artisanal diamond mining, my knowledge was severely lacking. I thought that the artisanal diamond mining that Beth showed us during her recent trip to Liberia was confined to the pages of history when sadly, it is still part of many people’s daily lives. Beth’s talk was not only interesting and insightful, but it was also moving and brought into stark contrast how much work still needs to be done to stop these diamond miners from being exploited. I thank both Beth and Diamonds for Peace for the work they do, and I will be looking to support them in the future.”
-Gareth Brown FGA, DGA, FJVA, MIRV Registered