#30 Aether Diamonds
#30 Aether Diamonds
Making diamonds out of CO2 emissions
I know it’s been some time but I’ve been working on a new project (more details below) and I changed the format of the newsletter. Hope you like it! ❤️⬇️
Read time: 5 minutes
Hi, I’m Javi Gascón.
This is Climate Tech Distillery, a newsletter where I talk about one specific climate tech company every week.
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Today we’ll distill a company that’s making the luxury jewelry industry carbon-negative: Aether Diamonds 🇺🇸
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What Problem Does Aether Diamonds Tackle❓
They tackle the environmental and ecological problems associated with traditional diamond mining:
1. Carbon Emissions and Energy Use: Traditional diamond mining releases 160 kg of greenhouse gases per polished carat. Mining involves substantial energy use, often from fossil fuels, contributing to climate change.
2. Water Consumption and Pollution: Mined diamonds consume over 126 gallons of water per carat, often polluting nearby water sources with sediment, chemicals, and heavy metals.
3. Ecosystem Destruction: Diamond mining clears large areas of land, leading to deforestation, soil erosion, and habitat destruction. This disturbs ecosystems, causing harm to local wildlife and forcing migrations.
4. Mineral Waste and Land Degradation: Mining produces significant mineral waste, which degrade land quality.
Product / Service 📦
To deal with this, they create carbon-negative diamonds made from CO2 captured from the air. Thanks to their innovative tech, their diamonds are drastically better:
Carbon Negative: Each carat of Aether removes around 20 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, making the production process carbon negative.
Sustainable Production: The diamonds are grown using renewable energy and do not require fossil fuels, reducing energy consumption by half compared to mined diamonds.
Water Savings: The process saves 127 gallons of freshwater per carat, unlike mined diamonds which consume significant water resources.
Conflict-Free: Aether Diamonds are 100% conflict-free, ensuring no ties to problematic mining practices.
Quality: These diamonds are physically and chemically identical to mined diamonds, certified by the International Gemological Institute, and are among the rarest and purest available.
Overall, Aether Diamonds provides a sustainable, ethical, and high-quality alternative to traditional diamonds. Consider them next time you have to buy one 💎 :)
Oh, and they also use fair-mined gold to make their jewelry 💛.
Market 🌐
The lab-grown diamond market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing consumer demand for ethical and sustainable alternatives to natural diamonds. On top of that, these diamonds tend to be cheaper without compromising quality.
The global lab-grown diamond market was valued at $24.0 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $59.2 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 9.6%.
Other Key Players
Clean Origin 🇺🇸: Specializes in lab-grown diamonds, offering sustainable and ethical alternatives to mined diamonds, with a focus on e-commerce and retail stores.
Vrai 🇺🇸: A luxury jewelry brand producing high-quality, lab-grown diamonds, emphasizing sustainability (zero-emissions foundry) and ethical practices.
But tbh, Aether Diamonds is playing a different game, since they are the only ones in the world making diamonds out of emitted CO2 :)
Founding Story 🦄
The company was founded by Ryan Shearman and Dan Wojno, driven by a shared passion for sustainability and innovation in the jewelry industry. Ryan, a mechanical engineer by training, had a diverse career path that included working with luxury products and founding his first startup, Fusar, a tech-enabled safety products company for motorcyclists.
Dan had extensive experience in jewelry manufacturing and production, having worked for companies like Pandora. They met while working at David Yurman and bonded over a shared appreciation for motorcycles and engineering. They combined their expertise to create Aether Diamonds, focusing on producing diamonds from captured CO2.
Their vision was to disrupt the traditional diamond industry by offering sustainable, guilt-free diamonds that not only reduce environmental impact but also appeal to consumers seeking ethical luxury products. Their innovative approach has positioned them as leaders in the climate tech and sustainable jewelry sectors.
Top Impact Stats 📈
A 2-carat diamond offsets a large portion of an individual's annual carbon footprint, about 1.5 to 2 years of emissions for an average person in the UK or US.
Aether aims to become an independently carbon-negative company, with plans to generate renewable energy and return excess clean power to the grid.
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