“We want to give life to these precious brands, while redefining the codes of the industry,” De Narp told The Business of Fashion.Īether is also breathing new life into the industry at large and hoping to redefine what luxury jewelry means. It’s a guiding principle for Frédéric de Narp, former CEO of Swatch Group’s Harry Winston, and Coralie de Fontenay, a longtime executive at Richemont’s Cartier, who are behind the brand’s relaunch. The recently revived Oscar Massin jewelry label is reimagining the 19th-century jeweler’s designs with lab-grown diamonds and recycled metals. Brilliant Earth, which focuses on lab-grown diamonds as well, saw 2020 sales total $251.8 million, up from $201.3 million in 2019, according to MarketWatch. The Leonardo DiCaprio-backed Vrai just opened its first flagship store in Los Angeles last year. By producing the world’s first diamonds from air, and the only truly sustainable diamonds in the market, our goal is to reverse the damage done to the planet and to stop the human rights and social issues that pervade the traditional diamond industry.”Īether is not alone in the manufactured diamond market. have problematic ties to military governments and corruption. “Not only that,” says Hagemann, “but at least 60 percent of mined diamonds sold in the U.S. “The traditional diamond industry has been disastrous for the planet, and it’s had a huge impact on climate change and the communities and ecosystems surrounding mining sites.,” he says.Īccording to Aether, on average, for every one carat that is mined from the ground, up to 250 tons of earth are removed, 127 gallons of freshwater are used, billions of gallons of water are contaminated with acid mine runoff, 143 pounds of air pollution are emitted, and countless gallons of fossil fuels are consumed. “It’s really about the impact people want to have on the world and the future we all envision for ourselves,” Hagemann says. The evolving diamond industry speaks to evolving consumer values a recent survey by diamond giant De Beers found consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, were more willing to support sustainably sourced or produced diamonds and even pay a premium for products that could offer traceability and verification that the products were ethical and responsible. “Being able to support this with strong empirical evidence helped us get through the arduous B Corporation assessment process,” he says. Aether is positioned at the forefront of that shift in the jewelry segment.Īether CEO Ryan Shearman tells Ethos that the company’s proprietary manufacturing process is demonstrably better for the environment than other diamond production methods. The increase in companies both applying and earning the mark speaks to the shifting marketplace and the consumer demand for ethical and sustainable companies. That number has been steadily growing in recent years with companies like Brad Pitt’s Enroot, Maker’s Mark, Aera, and Chloé all earning their B Corp status just in the last year. Out of more than 100,000 companies that have applied for it in the last decade, approximately only 4,000 have achieved it. The B Corp status underscores the company’s efforts the certification isn’t easy to achieve. The company says that’s equal to offsetting the average American’s carbon footprint by 1.25 years. Each carat sold equals 20 metric tons of CO2 taken from the atmosphere. Even with the Kimberly Process, human rights issues still persist across the industry that’s not the case with manufactured diamonds.īut it’s Aether’s big footprint for carbon removal that has been its calling card. Not only does this help to solve the climate crisis by removing carbon from the air-a technique also employed by companies like LanzaTech to produce sustainable textiles and perfumes-but for the diamond industry it offers assurance there are no human rights violations. The company, founded in 2018 by Ryan Shearman and Daniel Wojno, along with Hagemann, was the first to use atmospheric carbon to create its sustainable diamonds. “Being counted among the ranks of so many other companies who are committed to making the world a better place will give our brand a community in which it can grow, and show to our consumers our commitment to responsibility in every facet of our business.” "Achieving B Corp status will offer additional validation for how groundbreaking and impactful Aether’s technology is,” Robert Hagemann, Co-Founder and CMO of Aether Diamonds, told Ethos via email. Aether Diamonds, the first diamond brand in the world to use carbon capture technology to create sustainable diamonds, can now add certified B Corp status to its credentials.
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