Joanna Lumley & Ethica Diamonds Team Up On Charity Pendant
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7 days ago
The charity pendant, created for the Born Free Foundation, was sold at auction last month
A major auction took place last month at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, in aid of wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation. And amongst the ranks of coveted lots was a bespoke pendant, designed by British jewellery label Ethica Diamonds in collaboration with Born Free patron Joanna Lumley.
The Joanna Lumley x Ethica Diamonds Charity Pendant
Featuring golden hands curved inwards to hold a jewel-encrusted globe, the Born Free Foundation’s charity pendant was quite easily one of the buzziest lots of the auction. The piece itself was created by Ethica Diamonds’ in-house designer, Laura Basham, with personal contributions from Joanna Lumley.
Joanna Lumley wearing the Ethica Diamonds charity pendant
And, taking a closer look at the pendant, it’s clear why auction-goers were wowed. The piece was crafted with green lab-grown diamonds (3.65 carats) and blue lab-grown sapphires (2.04 carats), and set in recycled yellow gold. Glittering under the lights – and modelled by Lumley herself – it was only a matter of time before it got snapped up. The pendant was sold for an impressive £10,000, all of which was donated to the Born Free Foundation.
Speaking on the collaboration, Ethica Diamonds’ Co-Director Emily Grace Foreman said: ‘We’re delighted to be working with Joanna Lumley to create a truly special bespoke pendant exclusively for Born Free. We have loved getting creative and having some fun designing something which captures the essence of the charity, to celebrate and support the amazing work they do.
‘It is a cause which is very close to our hearts at Ethica Diamonds as we are all huge animal lovers in our team, so it has been highly rewarding for us to create something so meaningful which will be helping Born Free raise a lot of money for their work.’
Emily also noted how ‘the finished piece of jewellery is really special, not only because Joanna herself has had input into the design, but also because it celebrates a new, more sustainable way to create fine jewellery. It’s one that does not cause harm to the environment, animals or people through mining.’
Ethica Diamonds also donated a 1.3 carat lab-grown diamond to the event’s Diamond In The Glass raffle, where 100 percent of the money raised went again to the charity. But it wasn’t just any lab-grown diamond; it also happened to be the first Carbon Negative Standard lab-grown diamond, created using completely renewable energy and methane captured from the atmosphere, with no carbon emission released into the atmosphere.
‘This was a great opportunity for the launch of the Carbon Negative Standard that we have spent the past two years working towards,’ said Elaine Reffell, founder of Ethica Diamonds. ‘The diamond that we donated for this event was the first lab grown diamond that has been certified with the C-® Standard, which is a significant step for the industry. Lab-grown diamonds are not as environmentally friendly as people think, because most of them are grown using non-renewable energy, so this standard gives consumers full trust in the ethics of the product they are purchasing, particularly one that holds so much sentiment.’
Images courtesy of Ethica Diamonds
