The concern for the environment is ever-growing, and many in the jewelry industry are looking to take on that challenge. One such company, Aether Diamonds, has claimed that their lab-grown diamonds are carbon-negative. In an interview with JCK, cofounder and CEO Ryan Shearman and cofounder and CMO Robert Hagemann talk about their company and the diamonds themselves.
"Right now, we’re only sold through our website, aetherdiamonds.com," said Hagemann when asked where the brand is sold. "It’s important as a new brand that we be able to create a meaningful experience and offer the right types of education to our shoppers, who have often come to us because they’re looking for a new way of shopping for jewelry. Once we’ve been able to build awareness for Aether and develop more recognition for the brand, then we’ll look at other channels through which we will sell our jewelry."
Shearman then explained how the carbon-negative diamonds are certified, saying, "We work with the International Gemological Institute, the world’s largest independent laboratory for testing and grading gemstones. They certify all of our diamonds the same way they would any other diamonds, whether mined or lab-grown. We also partner with Natural Capital Partners, an independent third party that evaluates our diamond-making process and its carbon impact. We’re proud to say that our diamonds themselves are the world’s first carbon-negative in the world: They remove carbon from the atmosphere and are created through sourcing sustainable energy. We still need to rely on offsetting the impact of logistics and administrative operations for now, but our goal is to be a fully independently carbon-negative company by 2023. That’s a target we are committed to achieving, and we plan to generate our own green energy, send excess green energy to the grid, and condense our logistics footprint as much as possible. As a public benefit corporation that’s in the process of becoming a certified B Corp., we plan to leave the world a cleaner and more beautiful place than we found it."
When asked about the collections at Aether Diamonds and who designs them in particular, Hagemann said, "For now, our Earthly Pleasures collection is serving as our signature collection. introduced for the brand launch. Our Commitment and Masculine collections will be evergreen, and we’ll add to them over time as we continue to create even more designs. It’s important to note that we specifically use the words “Commitment” and “Masculine,” instead of “engagement” and “men’s,” to be in line with the vision we have for the jewelry industry. The world is finally starting to realize that humans have such an enormous range and fluidity of identity, gender, orientation, lifestyle, etc., and that old labels and categorizations often no longer hold true."
Information originally sourced from JCK.
