Chatham Created Gems and Diamonds
Reassuringly ethical and dazzlingly beautiful, the fine jewellery pieces designed by Chatham Created Gems and Diamonds are the heirlooms of the future. For lab-grown gemstones have seen a significant uptick in popularity. “Ten years ago, we had to explain to consumers and retailers what lab-grown gemstones are, but now they are much more aware,” says Monica McDaniel, Vice-President of the US brand that was an early architect of the industry over eight decades ago.
Founder Carroll Chatham, who successfully grew his first emeralds in 1936, wanted to offer an alternative to mined gemstones – a legacy that lives on as the company has evolved, from offering loose, rough gemstones and precision-cut facets to designing its own jewellery. The high-end, 18-carat Legacy Collection, for instance, was launched in 2024 and showcases Chatham’s innovations. It features lab-created diamonds – pioneered by Carroll’s son, Tom, in 1993 – and unique cuts, such as the Onion, Flame and Century. “We have brand-protected shapes that you would never be able to cut with a mined gemstone, because mined gemstones are just too fragile for these sorts of cuts,” says Monica. The collection also highlights the beauty of Chatham’s gemstone colours, the product of extensive research and development. “We’re the only grower with 14 different gemstone varieties. Every year, for the past seven years, we have come out with a new stone.”
The stones come in an array of kaleidoscopic, highly saturated hues, from vibrant red ruby to the new purple sapphire. As a result of meticulous hand-cutting, the colour and clarity is of a quality that can surpass mined gemstones, with symmetry, proportion and polish all carefully considered. Chatham customers also have access to rare gemstones. These include the colour-changing, green to purple alexandrite, which is otherwise mined from the earth in Russia, and the prized salmon-pink padparadscha from Sri Lanka, which is rarely found on the market. Chatham provides an affordable way for people to buy such stones. According to Monica, a gemstone that costs around $10,000 might cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if it was of the same quality but mined.
The achievement of producing this kind of excellence without depleting the planet of resources is a key part of the company’s ethos, as well as an allure for customers, with transparency verified through Responsible Jewellery Council certification. “The supply chain and origins of the stone is a lot more important to consumers nowadays,” says Monica, “and with lab-grown, you have the peace of mind that it grew in a laboratory and hasn’t gone through lots of different hands.”
With more pieces added to the Legacy Collection and over 100 brand-new designs released in 2024, Chatham’s responsible fashion-conscious customers have plenty of options to express their individual style, whether wearing a single cuff for a modern look or matching earrings and pendant for effortless elegance.
Looking to the future, Chatham hopes to move further into the fashion world, with more retailers carrying its jewellery brand or, eventually, using its stones on accessories. Also, gemstones and jewellery are best experienced in person. “As three-dimensional creations with intricate facets, their true beauty comes alive through their interaction with light,” says Monica. As the stones evoke emotion, the jewellery is the perfect gift to celebrate life’s milestones – birthdays and anniversaries – telling the story of people’s lives through colours and cuts.