Ethica Diamonds Creates Bespoke Pendant for Born Free in Collaboration with Joanna Lumley

01 Apr 2025

Ethica Diamonds has partnered with the Born Free Foundation and its original patron and ambassador, Joanna Lumley, to create a bespoke pendant for their live auction, which took place at the prestigious Royal Lancaster Hotel on March 20th 2025. The piece was designed by Ethica’s in-house designer, Laura Basham, with personal contributions from Joanna, and all profits supported Born Free's wildlife protection and conservation efforts. The pendant raised £10,000, all of which were donated to Born Free.

Born Free is an international wildlife charity focused on keeping wildlife in their natural habitat. The organisation campaigns for the protection of threatened species and promotes compassionate conservation. Born Free rescues and rehabilitates wild animals, including lions, tigers, and others, from captive environments and advocates against wildlife exploitation. The charity also works to protect critical habitats globally. Key achievements include the establishment of the Shamwari Private Game Reserve in South Africa, a sanctuary for rescued big cats, and successful campaigns leading to the cessation of dolphin captivity in UK Sea Life Centres.

The pendant, crafted with green lab-grown diamonds totalling 3.65 carats and light blue laboratory-grown sapphires totalling an additional 2.04 carats, set in recycled yellow gold, reflecting Ethica Diamonds' commitment to environmental responsibility and aligns with Born Free’s mission to protect the planet.

“We're delighted to be working with Joanna Lumley to create a truly special bespoke pendant exclusively for Born Free," says Emily from Ethica Diamonds. "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.

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 that does not cause harm to the environment, animals or people through mining.

Also at the special event, Ethica Diamonds donated a 1.3 carat Lab Grown Diamond for the "Diamond in The Glass" raffle. 100% of the money raised was also donated to the charity.

Elaine said, "This was a great opportunity for the launch of the Carbon Negative Standard that we have spent the past 2 years working towards. The diamond that we donated for this event was the first laboratory-grown diamond that has been certified with the C-® Standard, which is a significant step for the industry. Laboratory-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"

Carbon Negative diamonds are created using 100% renewable energy from wind or solar power and all methane used to grow the diamond is captured from the atmosphere. No carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere, achieving a net negative diamond.

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Source: Ethica Diamonds