Wear diamonds every day, says Hong Kong jewellery brand founder, and shop them sustainably by buying lab-grown stones
- The name of sustainable jewellery brand 5 + 2 | Weekdays and Weekends reflects the company’s philosophy that diamonds and other gems can be worn at any time
- Its founder says jewellery should be ‘should be worn and celebrated’ – and he is also on a mission to promote lab-made diamonds over mined ones
It’s a Wednesday afternoon and Hongkonger Nicholas Chow is literally dripping with diamonds. But he didn’t get blinged up just for an interview and photo: Chow wears diamonds every day.
Chow and his family are the founders of sustainable jewellery brand 5 + 2 | Weekdays and Weekends, the name reflecting the company’s philosophy that diamonds and other gems can be worn any time of the day or night, no matter what the occasion.
“We wanted to create something that’s casual and everyday,” says Chow, who studied luxury brand management in Switzerland. “It’s depressing to think that people have diamond jewellery locked up in their safe at home – it should be worn and celebrated.”
Lab-made diamonds are also priced more competitively because of the huge mark-up retailers apply to mined stones, he says.
But it is sustainability, he says, that is the biggest selling point, one that aligns with today’s modern consumer, who considers the human and environmental cost of a piece of jewellery as much as they do the actual price.
“Regarding diamond jewellery, social impact is the top sustainability concern for US consumers; in China and India, consumers care most about environmental preservation, conflict-free supply chains, and carbon footprint,” the report states.
And there are good reasons for buyers to make background checks. The mined diamond industry has faced much scrutiny in the past, with reports exposing brutal working conditions, the use of child labour and environmental devastation.
“We have a limited amount of natural resources so we must stop exploiting the planet,” says Chow, adding that it has been estimated a single carat of mined diamond requires the extraction of about 250 tonnes of earth.
“When people say that you need to buy a mined diamond for a relationship, I always answer, ‘If you want a relationship to be sustainable, go for a sustainable diamond.’”
For details, visit weekdaysandweekends.com.
