S ir Jony Ive, Apple’s Chief Design Officer, and renowned industrial designer Marc Newson – having curated the (RED) auction five years ago – have designed a unique ring, made exclusively for (RED) by Diamond Foundry®. Consistent with their mutual obsession with transforming raw material into objects of value, Ive & Newson’s design is singular, clear and uncompromised by the traditional metal settings and bands that have previously been required to create diamond rings. Their creation will be formed by removing material rather than adding – an ambition made possible by the extraordinary scale of the stone which will enable the ring to be made completely of diamond.
Creating a ring-shaped diamond is no small feat; the diamond block will be faceted several thousand times, some of which are as small as several hundred micrometers. The interior ring will be cylindrically cut out for the desired smoothness using a micrometer-thick water jet with laser beam. The finished ring will have between 2000–3000 facets, more than has ever been seen before on a single piece.
The gemstone will be created by Diamond Foundry®, the certified carbon neutral diamond producer who has pioneered and developed the proprietary technology to form diamonds safely and sustainably.