Astrea London: Ethical lab-grown diamonds merging science and style

Nathalie Morrison wants to transform the way you buy diamonds. A sparkling, ­vivid-pink pear-cut diamond, a radiant 9.5-­carat emerald-cut in vivid-blue, or a colourless five-carat double heart diamond ring—these spectacular stones, once seemingly unattainable, are now just a few clicks away thanks to Astrea London, a lab-grown diamond company that is leading a new era of responsible luxury.

“I have always loved diamonds, which woman doesn’t?” she says with a laugh as she plays with one of the glistening three-carat princess-cut lab-grown diamonds that adorn her ears. “I used to have the same pair in naturally mined stones,” she explains, “but the moment I found out about how much damage they would have caused to the environment and to the people, I couldn’t wear them anymore, no matter how sentimental they were.”

In fact, for Morrison, her foray into diamonds may have been written in the stars. Cambridge-educated and a multi-award-­winning business leader, Morrison began her career in Wealth Management. However, it was a chance encounter at the school gates that put her on the path to creating ethical fine jewellery. “It started when another mom at school asked if I had ever heard about lab-grown ­diamonds. I hadn’t at the time. But that was it. I had just sold my last firm, and I was looking for something new,” she reminisces. “Once I started doing some research, I realised the damage that the mining industry was doing to children and to the ground in Africa, I just thought I had to do something about it.” Morisson says, adding that she already had strong familial ties to South Africa, where most of the large diamond mines are: “My family have vineyards there, and I have been involved with the country (South Africa) for many years —in fact, I built a school with some friends called Sumbandila, to help educate underprivileged kids.”

Two years later, in 2023, Astrea London was born. The company was established with a clear mission: To not only create the world’s finest lab-grown diamonds but also to provide a sustainable and ethical alternative to mined diamonds, thereby conserving the Earth’s natural resources, reducing carbon emissions, and eliminating harmful mining practices. Today, that is achieved through either the High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) or Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) process, both of which utilise highly controlled laboratory environments. “It’s much like a microwave”, she explains, adding that by building intense pressure around a single Carbon seed, one can ‘grow’ a diamond that emerges much like a rough diamond that is found in the ground.

“It takes the same time to make diamonds in a laboratory as it does in the earth. It just takes billions of years to extract them. That’s the only difference.” Morrison explains, adding that, “with technology, I actually believe that we can achieve a better quality of diamonds created in a lab than we can from a mine.” It’s a bold statement, but Morrison is undeterred, elaborating that under the right circumstances, Astrea can create D colour flawless (FL) diamonds, which, according to the International Gem Society, make up just 0.001% of all natural diamonds produced globally.

 It’s not just about achieving perfection. “I want to give women the power of choice”, she says. Unlike traditional jewellery shops, which can only sell the stones that they have, Astrea can offer customers bespoke stones, customised to the smallest detail within just a few short weeks. “We recently had a customer who came in looking for an 8.88-carat diamond. Whilst most jewellers can offer you the eight, or even the 8.8, we were able to create an 8.88-carat star-cut diamond in just four weeks.” One of the most exciting features of lab-grown diamonds is that one can experiment with different cuts, including their own signature cut, the star, after which the company is named (astrea is Greek for ‘star’). “Because we can create the stones, we can experiment with them more”, she adds.

Today, Morrison is looking towards the future, specifically to Dubai, as she relocates her manufacturing base at the 2DOT4 lab in Jebel Ali. “The reason I chose Dubai is because it’s so forward-thinking”, she explains. Her first boutique will open at the Mandarin Oriental in October; it’s a partnership she chose specifically due to the hotel’s commitment to sustainability. Then there’s their Five Carat Tea experience, where guests will be invited to the factory for tea and to experience a diamond being created in real-time at their new Diamond Visitor Centre —the world’s first immersive diamond experience of its kind.

As lab-grown diamonds continue to blur the lines between technology and nature, consumers, too, are beginning to rethink their choices. No longer seen as “second best”, lab-grown diamonds are gaining recognition as the modern alternative. “I think there’s a lot of misconception about the lab-grown diamond industry. Today, there is no limit to what we can create. And it’s the beauty of science and technology merging to allow us to enjoy them (diamonds) when they are made more sustainably,” says Morrison.