Creative thinking

Each week seems to bring a new story about a designer dabbling in lab-grown diamonds, with creations ranging from the simple solitaire to red-carpet mimicry, millennial minimalism to outlandish displays of ostentation.

Starting with the ostentatious, one of last year’s most interesting designs was a collaboration between San Francisco-based producer Diamond Foundry and tech royalty. Tapping into its Silicone Valley surrounds, the lab-grown-diamond producer tasked Apple chief design officer Jony Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson with creating a showstopping diamond ring. They came up with a highly faceted piece made entirely of diamond, which sold for $256,000 at the Sotheby’s (RED) auction in December to raise funds for the fight against AIDS. While the idea is not entirely original — Geneva jeweler Shawish created a solid 150-carat mined-diamond ring in 2012 — it celebrates the made-to-order possibilities of lab-grown.

Spanning the spectrum

For brands engaged in less newsworthy but more marketable synthetic-diamond jewelry, design teams seem to be split between replicating tradition and embracing the future.

The bridal market is a focus for the former camp, with brands including Diamond Foundry, Brilliant Earth, Couple and Love Earth simply swapping out mined for lab-grown.

Others, such as Âme Jewelry — which opened stores in Los Angeles, California, and New York in December — are more playful. Octagonal, channel-set rings, chunky industrial cuffs and full-knuckle rings radiate the freedom of reinventing a heritage luxury commodity.

Lightbox, the lab-grown-diamond brand De Beers launched in May, has also tapped into the fashion market.

“It takes its cues from the world of cosmetics or accessories more than the world of fine jewelry,” says Lightbox chief marketing officer Sally Morrison. “It’s not about the theater of opening the velvet box, it’s about ‘I love that color pink.’ It’s like you were looking at an eyeshadow or a glass.” Indeed, pink lab-grown diamonds star in Lightbox’s selection, along with blue stones.

Easy on the ear

One of the biggest fashion trends in the fine-jewelry market is a refreshed obsession with multiple piercings and the quest for an Instagram-worthy ear stack. Once in the ear, these jewels are rarely removed, and as such, brands such as Maria Tash have found success in upselling modern piercers. With the ability to offer the same look at a lower price, this area offers potential for lab-grown-diamond designers.

Individually sold earrings, popular among millennials, are a key focus of the 20-piece debut collection from London-based lab-grown jewelry brand Kimaï, which was launched in November by the daughters of Antwerp diamond dealers. “We are targeting our generation,” says 25-year-old cofounder Jessica Warch. “We want pieces that last. We don’t want to do fashion pieces that you wear once and leave in your closet. We’re not very classic, we have a style — but it’s something you can wear every day.”

Echoing this sentiment is fellow lab-grown-diamond brand Lark & Berry, which Laura Chavez launched in 2017. It, too, has invested in the piercing craze, setting up a piercing studio at its London store, though it also offers more lavish styles. Most of its sales are of round brilliant lab-created diamonds from melee to 7 carats, says Chavez. “We are always seeking to have varied designs, ranging from everyday pieces to what you would wear at a gala.”

Rocking the red carpet

Then there are the glitz hunters who care little for understated cool. Leading the pack is Atelier Swarovski with a collection designed by actress Penelope Cruz, which launched last summer. Boasting price tags of up to $21,500, it not only took inspiration from the red carpet, but appeared on it, worn by its creator. Made with Fairtrade gold and lab-grown gems and diamonds, these jewels are feminine, flashy and full of old Hollywood glamour.

Alessa Jewelry

Dubai-based brand Alessa Jewelry has teamed up with US lab-grown-diamond producer Diamond Foundry to create a line of eight engagement rings.

Alessa Jewelry was set up in 2009 by Yuvraj Pahuja and Alessandra Robles — a couple who met while studying at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Pahuja, a fifth-generation jeweler, was running his family jewelry business in Dubai before his studies. Robles, who grew up in Guatemala, is the creative driving force behind the brand.

This personal and professional match has led to several striking contemporary diamond collections, including Wonder Woman-inspired chunky cuffs and diamonds strung on clear, flexible fishing wire. The duo has picked up a clutch of stockists on the west coast, including Bhindi, Church Boutique, Neiman Marcus and Ocnarf Studio.

The collaboration with Diamond Foundry is Alessa Jewelry’s first foray into engagement rings. Each ring is named after a mythical goddess, such as Venus Gaia and Tyche, and set with lab-grown diamonds ranging from a 0.50-carat round brilliant to a near-2-carat pear shape.

Stephen Webster

One of the biggest names to join the lab-grown-diamond movement is Stephen Webster. In a collaboration with Atelier Swarovski, the British jewelry designer has created a collection called Double Diamond that uses 14-karat recycled gold and lab-created diamonds.

While Webster has been a vocal supporter of lab-grown diamonds, his brand never worked with them until this initiative, which debuted in November. His main collections at stores across the US, including Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Los Angeles’s Just One Eye, continue to use mined diamonds.

The Atelier Swarovski by Stephen Webster Double Diamond collection takes the octahedron shape of uncut rough diamonds as its inspiration. Octahedron-shaped frames hold polished spheres of opaque rose quartz, with accents of Created Diamonds — Swarovski’s branded lab-grown diamonds — in round, princess and baguette cuts.

Webster has said that Double Diamond — and indeed, his entrance into this emerging market — “embraces the disruption and modernity of lab-created diamonds…for the modern luxury consumer who is ready for change.” This approach fits perfectly with the brand’s rebellious, rock ‘n’ roll image.

Anabela Chan

Though her jewels have all the hallmarks of red-carpet glamour, there is not a single mined gemstone in Anabela Chan’s designs — and this dedication to synthetics has been at the core of the brand since its inception in 2013.

Lab-grown gems, from diamonds to rubellites and emeralds, are set in 18-karat gold to create bright, bountiful creations. Chan, a trained gemologist, says her customers already tend to have traditional luxury-jewelry collections but come to her for fun, lower-priced pieces they can comfortably wear on nights out and vacations. Her bold looks work well on the red carpet, and stars including Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts and Taylor Swift have worn Anabela Chan jewelry.

Born in Hong Kong, Chan grew up between Paris and London, where she now lives and has a flagship store in the fashionable Ham Yard Hotel. Before discovering her love of jewelry, she trained as an architect and specialized in print and embroidery, working with British fashion house Alexander McQueen. Her jewelry is sold both directly to consumers and at upmarket stores such as Harrods in London, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, LuisaViaRoma in Rome, and Moda Operandi in New York.

Image: Double Diamond bracelet, stephenwebster.com / Iris engagement ring, alessa.jewelry / Bellflower ring, anabelachan.com

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2019. To subscribe click here.