Astrea London’s founders Claire Ferrini and Nathalie Morrison
Astrea London, founded by Claire Ferrini and Nathalie Morrison, aims to epitomise feminine elegance through visually stunning and unique pieces of jewellery, without harming our planet. Opting for lab-grown diamonds rather than mined gems, Astrea aims to “reshape the landscape of high-end luxury jewellery” with its blend of glamorous design and ethical business practice. Talking to LUX, Ferrini discusses the influence and heritage of grandmother Margaret Coglin, “the Grace Kelly of Kenya”, the importance of sustainability in jewellery and the delicate designs that Astrea London creates.
LUX: What inspired you to create the brand?
Claire Ferrini: The inspiration to start Astrea came from my grandmother, who gifted me a beautiful Trilogy diamond necklace 30 years ago. The diamonds were in fact lab grown diamonds and it was my grandmother’s belief that we should not be mining diamonds but protecting our planet and embracing lab grown diamonds instead. She believed it would be the future of the diamond industry. 30 years on, I decided to look into that concept and together with my business partner Nathalie, we started Astrea.
LUX: Have your personal backgrounds influenced its conception?
CF: We both come from financial backgrounds so the jewellery industry was new to us. But setting up businesses is Nathalie’s forte and with my engineering background and interest in lab grown diamonds, the business came together easily. As well as this, we each have four children who are all very much aware of how we should be protecting our planet and adopting sustainable practices in our every day lives. Being able to start a business that’s very existence will eliminate practices that desecrate our planet is hugely exciting and has inspired our children to look at ways in which we can further help protect our planet. As well as that, our motto is to “always give back” and it is our aim to always give back to those less fortunate than ourselves and to support charities close to our hearts. We both have ties to Africa and the charities we support look to educate and empower children in Africa.
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LUX: Did you experience any challenges in creating a brand around lab grown diamonds?
CF: Lab diamond sales in the US are 75% of all diamond sales today. However, the UK is way behind that and our first challenge, going into the lab grown diamond industry, was to raise awareness and educate the customer about lab diamonds and the fact that they are REAL diamonds. The lab diamond industry has definitely created issues for the mined diamond industry, but it will take time for customers and businesses to accept and embrace the idea.
LUX: What has been the response to your use of lab grown diamonds?
CF: We have been overwhelmed with the positivity and the take up of lab diamond jewellery since we started the business. When clients have that ‘lightbulb moment’ and realise that not only are lab diamonds 100% identical to their mined counterparts, so a gemologist with decades of experience cannot tell the difference, but also that they are in fact better in quality and sparkle as well as ethically produced – that is a win for us. We believe that the customer has a right to understand what they are buying and does not need to be paying inflated prices (up to 80% more) for mined diamonds that are in fact worse quality. We have also noticed a positive trend with influencers and celebrities keen to wear our stones as they are more sustainable and ethically produced and we were thrilled to appear a few times on the Cannes film festival red carpet this year, with the likes of supermodel Coco Rocha wearing our pieces.
Supermodel Coco Rocha wearing Astrea London pieces on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival
LUX: What characterises the jewellery design of Astrea?
CF: We began our journey into lab diamond jewellery with the aim to come up with classic, every day, simple jewellery that was a staple in one’s jewellery box. That included eternity rings, studs, simple pendants and tennis bracelets. Our aim was to produce the best quality diamond jewellery that was both classic and timeless – we only use certified top quality diamonds with D/E/F colours and VS1+ clarity, which sits in the top 1% of quality diamonds worldwide. Once we had achieved best quality, we moved onto designing bespoke pieces that showcased versatility and manufacturing complexity that would not be possible in mined diamonds – for example our “Eternal Eight necklace” that can be worn in eight different ways, from choker necklace to earrings, lariat necklace and more. With over 105 colourless diamonds (graded D/E/F and comparable to only the top 1% of quality diamonds globally), it was a showstopper of beautiful diamonds combined with state of the art innovation.
LUX: Have your sustainability principles shaped the brand’s aesthetic?
CF: To date, we have focused on creating pieces that are timeless rather than trendy so that it remains relevant and will always be a part of one’s staple jewellery collection. We now also create beautiful pieces with lab grown coloured diamonds always ensuring best quality stones and jewellery manufacture, using only sustainable lab diamond stones.
Astrea London’s Baguette Bracelet
LUX: Why is an ‘ethical future’ so important to Astrea?
CF: An ethical future is crucial to Astrea and the lab diamond industry for several reasons. Today’s consumers are increasingly aware of the ethical implications of their purchases and therefore a commitment by suppliers to have ethical practices, helps meet this demand and attracts customers who truly prioritise sustainability and social responsibility. As well as this, lab diamonds have a significantly lower environmental footprint compared to mined diamonds and this is the backbone of our business. It is Astrea’s aim to promote lab diamonds, commit to strict ethical standards and promote environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
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LUX: While lab-grown diamonds are far more ethical and environmentally-friendly than diamond mining, there is still a positive carbon footprint from the heat and pressure required to grown them. Does Astrea have any plans for achieving carbon neutrality?
CF: Yes absolutely. Whilst lab grown diamonds are proven to be significantly more sustainable with fully recycled water usage and only 17kw per rough carat produced versus 106-150kw for well-known mined companies, we are actively pursuing strategies to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce our overall environmental impact. With a combination of solar power, recycled water, research and development of new technologies that require less energy, and signed codes of conduct to ensure continued work towards a zero-carbon footprint, it is our aim to ultimately achieve net-zero diamonds. We are constantly and actively looking into offsetting our carbon footprint and are members of Responsible jewellery councils in order to keep abreast of the industry standards.
This image and next: Astrea London uses only lab-grown diamonds, presenting no ethical issues about mining or treatment of workers
LUX: What do you think is the future of lab-grown diamonds?
CF: At Astrea, we believe that within the next 5-10 years, there will no longer be the need for mined diamond jewellery and lab diamond jewellery will fully take over the diamond industry. The next generation has little to no interest in carving up the Earth to mine diamonds and for that reason, we believe lab diamonds will ultimately be the only diamonds on the market. Currently lab diamonds make up 50% of the engagement ring industry in the US – whilst the UK is behind on numbers, that trend is certainly picking up here too. According to the Economist, “75% of diamonds globally will be lab grown by 2050”. We anticipate that this will materialise by 2035.
LUX: Do you think that lab-gown diamonds will one day replace diamond mining completely?
CF: Absolutely – lab grown diamonds are the future of the diamond industry. The diamond industry is undergoing significant changes spurred by increasing awareness and evolving consumer preferences. Laboratory grown diamonds are gaining a lot of traction, providing customers with the same stunning beauty and elegance of natural diamonds but with transparency, sustainability and ethical practices that align with their values.
LUX: We’d love to know more about your design process – your collections have different inspirations but for example, please tell us more about the inception of the Grace Eternal collection?
CF: The Grace Eternal collection was inspired by my grandmother, Margaret Coglin, who was always known as the “Grace Kelly of Kenya” where she lived. The eternal collection consists of classic staple pieces, including tennis bracelets, pendants and eternity rings, that will never go out of fashion and are easy to wear, timelessly beautiful and are simple staple classics. Bought as a collection, these have been incredibly popular. We have since evolved into our L’amour collection which is a stunning collection of heart shaped jewellery including our hearts entwined ring which has been hugely popular, our heart trilogy necklaces, drop earrings and heart pendants – perfect for Valentines and that special occasion. Our bespoke part of the business has been hugely successful whereby we design and create bespoke pieces for our clients. We have 3 designers who come with a wealth of experience from the top jewellery brand houses and who are instrumental in ensuring all our designs are unique – we look forward to introducing these designs and creations imminently with different shape diamonds, set into intricate pieces.
LUX: Do you have plans for a London boutique?
CF: We have just opened our first UK store at the Fairmont Windsor Park, having opened at the Villa la Coste in France, this Summer. It has been a huge success for Astrea and gives customers the opportunity to see our pieces in person and to judge for themselves the quality of our jewellery. We do have plans for a London boutique as well as other cities in Europe.
Pieces from Astrea London’s L’Amour Collection
LUX: Do you have a favourite piece and why?
CF: I personally love our tennis bracelets – because they can be worn day and night, from weddings to evenings out. They are classic yet timeless and elegant and when made with different shaped stones, for example our oval tennis bracelet, they are strikingly beautiful. No matter how big or small you go, they carry such a huge impact.
