Bespoke 45 carat lab grown diamond ring designed by Jony Ive sells at auction

As if to prove that nothing is impossible anymore and that we're moving from a world of scarcity to one of abundance, whether it's abundant energy thanks to renewable energy innovations, food thanks to the emergence of so called clean meat, or even diamonds, Sir Jony Ive, Apple’s ex Chief Design Officer, along with teammate Marc Newson and the Diamond Foundry in the US recently designed a diamond ring made entirely out of one single pure diamond for the AIDS charity (RED) that was then auctioned off by Southeby’s in Miami for a cool $256,000.

And the catch? It was completely unique - and made in a lab. The ring’s also yet another example of how what was once rare in the world, in this case diamonds, could now become commonplace – something that already has the world’s largest diamond producers, like Debeers, on edge and trying to figure out how they defend their high value businesses from “synthetic” diamonds that, even though they’re made in the lab, are only different from the real things because of a couple of technicalities and the time it takes to grow them.

Courtesy: Diamond Foundry

The duo designed the all-diamond ring last year for AIDS charity (RED), whose COO Jennifer Lotito described the piece as "a thing of absolute beauty and sustainability,” and since the whole ring, band included, is cut from one diamond and cannot be resized, it was crafted bespoke for the buyer after the auction.

Ive and Newson's design was made possible thanks to the guys at the Diamond Foundry, one of the US's leading producers of lab-grown diamonds, who grew the source diamond using a process that simulates how the gemstones would naturally form in the Earth's core. Expect this one was grown in their labs in San Fransciso and free from the environmental and social costs associated with traditional diamond mining — hence the company’s sustainability claim.

In order to create the ring the team first grew a 45-carat rough diamond, cut it using a laser guided by a micrometer-thick water jet and then polished it. The finished ring closely matches Ive and Newson's blueprint, including the promised 2,000-3,000 facets, which is also a world first.

"A project of this size and quality would not have been possible using a mined diamond," said Diamond Foundry CEO Martin Roscheisen. "[and] the craftsmanship of the (RED) Ring represents a major milestone in the diamond industry."

So will we be seeing more of these diamonds popping up? Absolutely, and could they become a girls best friend? Well, if you love bling that’s sustainable then it’s possible …