Precios Lee. Photo: Courtesy Pandora
Lab-grown diamonds are a divisive subject in the jewelry world, with the synthetic gemstones often branded “fake” or lesser-than by those in favour of conventional mined diamonds. But in reality, man-made diamonds are identical to natural diamonds – so much so that a diamond expert wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two on examination.
Given that a lab-grown diamond can have a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to a mined diamond, in many ways it’s a no-brainer to choose the man-made option. “When you look at the average mined diamond compared to a lab-created diamond that we’re using, ours has five per cent of the CO2 emissions,” Mads Twomey-Madsen, Pandora’s vice president of corporate communications and sustainability, tells Vogue. “On the emissions [front], it’s a clear case – there’s no discussion.”
While a 2019 report, commissioned by the Diamond Producers Association, suggested that lab-grown diamonds could have three times the carbon footprint as mined diamonds, the data took into account emissions created by labs in China and India, where coal is still a dominant energy source. Crucially, Pandora has partnered with a supplier that uses 100 per cent renewable energy to produce its diamonds. “That changes the whole equation,” Twomey-Madsen explains.
After committing to using only lab-grown diamonds in 2021, Pandora is now launching three new collections: Pandora Nova, featuring distinctive four-prong settings; Pandora Era, which offers a fresh take on the classic bezel and prong settings; and Pandora Talisman, comprising five pendant designs inspired by the brand’s signature charm bracelets. To mark the expansion of its lab-grown diamonds collections, Pandora has unveiled a new “Diamonds For All” campaign. Featuring the likes of Pamela Anderson, Precious Lee, Grace Coddington, Sherry Shi and Justina Miles (the sign-language interpreter who…
