Stud

Jennifer Fisher makes a strong case for OTT jewelry. Her Instagram is bursting with photos of celebrities wearing her statement pieces- Emily Ratajkowski in her best-selling Samira hoops, or Rihanna in a chunky pavé chain necklace- but Fisher’s own selfies might be even more compelling. She posts an almost-daily breakdown of what she’s wearing, particularly in her ears: Sometimes it’s her new unicorn-shaped hoops (insane!) or a wristful of pavé huggies and cuffs. It gives her customers lots of ideas: Why not wear two giant hoops in one ear, or stack the length of your cartilage with sparkling cuffs and studs? Fisher is calling them the next generation of diamond studs because not only are they edgy and mismatched but also you can feel good about wearing them. “This really started because I wanted to give our customers the option to choose between mined diamonds and lab-grown diamonds,” she said. But Fisher is attuned to her customers’ changing views on diamonds, particularly her millennial fans, and she’s been keeping a close eye on the lab-grown diamond industry too. “As we’ve grown, people have been asking us more and more questions about [the origins of] our diamonds,” she said. “This new generation wants to know that no one was harmed [in the mining of the stones], and that they essentially have a carbon footprint of zero. But at the same time, we’re getting tons of requests for diamond stud earrings so I thought now was the perfect opportunity to become more sustainable.”

Fisher’s new line of angular diamond “micro-studs” were made in a lab. They’re a product of her new partnership with Diamond Foundry, the fast-growing leader in lab-grown diamonds. Here’s a short version of how the technology works: Diamond Foundry starts with a slice of a rough diamond, places it in a hydrogen plasma reactor, adds carbon dioxide and methane, and two weeks later the diamond “grows” and is ready to be cut and polished. It’s not a synthetic or chemically enhanced diamond; it’s 100 percent real. Fisher’s studs will start at 0.15 carat, and the largest will be 1.0 carat; each is made to order and priced accordingly, but smaller studs will be around $900. They’re also cut in sleek, asymmetrical shapes like trillions, emeralds, and keystones. Fisher is hoping her customers buy them one at a time so they can mix and match: “We wanted to make sure we could do really cool, angular cuts, not just your classic round diamond studs,” she said. “These are really easy to layer.” This is coming just a few weeks after De Beers announced its new line of lab-grown diamond jewelry, so it’s clear this isn’t a Gen Z–specific concern. If both a heritage brand like De Beers and a more accessible, celebrity-approved brand like Fisher’s are seeing the opportunity in lab-grown diamonds, the future of the industry can only get brighter. www.jenniferfisherjewelry.com