The innovators creating a beauty future with sustainable, ethical diamonds
Advertising
Obsessions
The innovators creating a beauty time to come with sustainable, upstanding diamonds
These lab-grown gems are physically and chemically the aforementioned as diamonds mined from the earth. A collaboration with Dover Street Market hopes to alter the industry.
The Diamond Foundry ten Dover Street Market Fine Jewellery project uses "higher up footing" diamonds grown in a lab that are physically and chemically the same every bit mined diamonds. (Photograph: Instagram.com/diamondfoundry)
What happens when you give six renowned contemporary jewellery designers and 1 artist an unlimited supply of lab-grown diamonds to play with? That's what the Diamond Foundry x Dover Street Marketplace Fine Jewellery project set out to detect find.
The effect: A year of conversation, the use of more than 100 diamonds, six mini capsule collections, 18 pieces of jewellery and an interactive installation created by artist, photographer and film-maker Katerina Jebb. The final projection is now due to travel to v cities around the world with the aim to promote sustainable and ethical practices within the industry.
The collaboration is a starting time for Dover Street Market and Diamond Foundry – the Usa'south leading producer of lab-grown diamonds which are created in its San Francisco foundry using solar ability.
Lab-grown diamonds have grown dramatically in popularity over the by 10 years. Physically, chemically and aesthetically they are the aforementioned every bit diamonds mined from the earth. But whereas natural diamonds are produced over millennia, these are "grown" from diamond seeds in a lab which replicate the natural growing process.
"These diamonds are fresh, they do not deport the weight of Mother Earth."
The benefits are significant: The environmental impact of industrial mining is avoided, renewable energy can exist used to grow the diamonds (Diamond Foundry is the world's first diamond producer certified to be carbon neutral), and the process is transparent – you can track each diamond from origin to eventual sale point, a feat which is near impossible with diamonds mined from many of the major mining sites across the world.
Nosotros talk to each of the designers on this "above ground" diamond journey.
RAPHAELE CANOT
Raphaele Canot doesn't like to accept her jewellery design too seriously. "My style is ane of low-cal, spirited, effortless classics with a hint of French wit," said the self-described diamond obsessive of her piece of work. Only at showtime she wasn't sure about using lab-grown stones. "I was curious to discover if they would movement me in the same manner that mined diamonds do. I approached them with curiosity and a hint of scepticism, like I would read a novel written by an AI motorcar."
The projection presented an opportunity for Canot to attempt body jewellery, something she had never done before. "These diamonds are fresh, they do not carry the weight of Mother World or the heavy symbols. They led me to more versatile and playful designs… Two of the three necklaces I created can be worn every bit torso cross or waistline chains. Each slice features a single star stone [a cut designed to increase light reflection]. I beloved that with fresh diamonds you tin can dictate how it is cut."
HUNROD
Michele Lamy, who is also a married woman and business partner to designer Rick Owens, co-founded Hunrod with jeweller and long-term friend Loree Rodkin in 2014. The duo share an instantly recognisable and unique aesthetic. Mesomorphic rings of dripping molten metal, black rhodium and silvery are prepare with natural stones, and earrings that could be mistaken for ancient Viking artefacts are battered and twisted to boast a raw unfinished quality.
For their sheathing, the duo created a glittering slithering snake with a diamond which wraps itself around an oversized golden and bronze base stretching from knuckle to finger articulation. "Nosotros simply used one diamond, the biggest they could requite united states of america!" said Lamy. Even later on the project Lamy is however in awe of the process. "The Diamond Foundry is a mystery to me! Maybe a way to recreate the world… Who knows! They are disruptors at the forefront of technology…"
SOPHIE BILLE BRAHE
Sophie Bille Brahe'due south now iconic Croissant de Lune earring – a row of diamonds on 19k gilded which follows the curve of the ear like a miniature cuff – which debuted in her countdown drove in 2011, was an instant hit and continues to sell today.
For her DSM x Diamond Foundry collaboration, she has gone in a different management: Simple linear earrings, with diamonds whizzing similar stars across their white aureate base. Bille Brahe oft looks to the cosmos for inspiration, her fascination with the dark sky stemming from her antecedent, the radical astronomer Tycho Brahe.
DELFINA DELETTREZ
Known for her use of natural iconography often depicting eyes, bees and red cherry lips, Delettrez describes her pieces as existence "hyper modernistic". The designer wanted her collection of 2 earrings, a ring and a gold bracelet – all handmade in her Roman atelier – to feel a fiddling more punk than her usual designs simply still be clothing. "I took inspiration from the classicism of the rock, with a punk touch given by the piercing that is drilled through the diamond, that is part of my universe. A dialogue between past and futurity".
Delettrez likes to be forward thinking when designing, and found the DSM x Diamond Foundry project a natural fit: "I'm fascinated by the futurity and by experimentation," she said. "I'1000 interested in giving customers an alternative equally the 2 types of diamond can perfectly coexist. Information technology's an added value, the ethical value. Particularly for new generations who are more socially enlightened."
ANA KHOURI
Ana Khouri was not ever interested in jewellery. Her background lies in sculpture, and it was her passion for art that shaped her career path. "I studied fine arts and had a show where I had sculptures hanging on women. Someone there asked me to adapt the pieces into jewellery. That was the commencement…" Today Khouri'south designs have a fluidity to them: Earrings hang in circular tiers from the lobe, or appear to "wrap" around. "Louise Bourgeois is an eternal inspiration to me every bit an artist and as a adult female," said the jeweller.
Khouri already employs a sustainable and transparent agenda for her brand and believes each piece of jewellery should connect to its wearer and send a positive message. "Beingness aware of all the materials nosotros work with and choosing the best is a basic foundation for our brand, and information technology's important to our clients who are learning a lot from united states."
HUM
Since launching in 2004, Hum's founders Yuka Inanuma and Tomohiro Sadakiyo have sought more sustainable methods to produce their piece of work. When approached by DSM x Diamond Foundry, they felt the synergy. "Even in the art and fashion world, I believe the technology development will be an important cistron," said Inanuma. "We hope the fusion of tech and handmade volition create new values."
For their projection, Hum kept it minimal, using but three diamonds, 1 for each ring created. "The platinum and gold used take been refined from our atelier's scraps – metallic powder from previous product processes – and the unabridged process was done by manus by a single craftsman using Japanese metallising technology," said Inanuma.
By Flora Macdonald Johnston © The Financial Times
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/obsessions/the-sustainable-diamond-innovators-251081
0 Response to "The innovators creating a beauty future with sustainable, ethical diamonds"
Post a Comment