Artists have to learn the rules of their craft before they can subvert them.
Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollack learned traditional painting techniques before pioneering their signature abstract approaches to the medium.
The same is true of many professions, including the diamond trade.
Amir Sidis-Simkhai isn’t a tech entrepreneur with dreams of disrupting the traditional jewellery industry model with his lab-grown diamond and gemstone jewellery line, Minty Diamonds.
Rather, he’s a fourth-generation member of the industry with decades of natural diamond expertise.
Sidis-Simkhai’s great-grandfather was the first to enter the world of jewellery, paving the way for his grandfather, who specialised in diamonds. Sidis-Simkhai’s father is also a diamond trader and his mother has her own jewellery brand.Born in Israel, Sidis-Simkhai studied law before becoming interested in the family business.
Early in his diamond career, he travelled extensively, buying diamonds in India and South Africa, with Israel providing an ideal geographical base between markets such as New York, Antwerp and Hong Kong.
Eventually, tired of travelling, he joined his father’s company and set up shop in New York City, where he is raising his four children – two sets of twins.
It’s from this insider’s perspective that Sidis-Simkhai approaches lab-grown diamonds.”In the beginning, people were very afraid of lab-grown diamonds,” he recalls, “and there were people who were fascinated by them.
He was in the latter camp, curious about the possibilities of this new slice of the market, and watched as the production methods were refined and the colours improved to the point where “perfect stones were coming out”.
While diamond dealers and retailers were initially polarised on the issue, Sidis-Simkhai notes that most now simply want to give their customers what they want.
“I started offering [lab-grown diamonds] as an option to my natural diamond customers who wanted something bigger,” he says, noting that customers started asking about them.
While many people remain opposed to the material, Sidis-Simkhai’s family’s reputation in the diamond industry meant people trusted him when he started working with lab-grown stones and tried to forge his own path.
“I didn’t want to be like everyone else,” he says.”Natural diamonds still make up the majority of Sidis-Simkhai’s business. His vision for lab-grown diamonds and other gemstones isn’t just another centre stone option for a diamond engagement ring.
He has bigger ideas in mind. For him, lab-grown diamonds represent his “obsession with materials”.
They could be part of a new language of jewellery, he suggests, where the core concepts are the same but expressed in unique ways.
By chance, Sidis-Simkhai met an up-and-coming jewellery designer – who works quietly and anonymously behind the scenes for Minty Diamonds – who shares his passion for reinterpreting classic styles.
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” says Sidis-Simkhai of their shared design inclinations, “but we do want to look at [jewellery styles] in a different way.
The pair began experimenting with ceramics, sourcing ‘jewellery grade’ zirconium dioxide, used in high-end watches and produced in northern Europe, and analysing how it looked when layered with different colours.
After years of experimentation, the building blocks of their brand were laid and Minty Diamonds was born.
Fine jewellery staples such as a tennis bracelet and an eternity band take on a new personality with lab-grown diamonds set in a two-layer ceramic bezel. The lab-grown stones also have a practical element in these designs, explains Sidis-Simkhai.
D- to F- colour, VS clarity diamonds are needed to stand out against the chocolate brown, dark navy, hunter green and light pink ceramic shades. Natural diamonds of the same clarity and colour would cost significantly more.
The ceramic colours add a playful element to Minty Diamonds, but are restrained enough to feel mature rather than ultra-trendy. For some, the ceramic layers are reminiscent of a layered cake, while for Sidis-Simkhai they are reminiscent of luxurious Italian Marchesi candies.
“We wanted each colour to pop [by pairing a dark with a light],” he says. “When they’re layered in a stack, it almost gives the colours a purpose.”
So far, Minty Diamond’s clientele has proved to be a diverse mix of ages and genders.
“It’s very contemporary and different without being crazy,” says Sidis-Simkhai of the collection’s widespread popularity. “You don’t have to make a big statement to wear it. In the end, it appeals to everyone.”
Years of experimentation and refinement have crystallised the production process. Ceramic and recycled gold are set with lab-grown diamonds from Israel and the United States. Some assembly takes place in Italy – for the tennis bracelet, for example – and some assembly and finishing takes place in New York.
Minty Diamonds will officially launch in 2022, and found its first retail home this year at Moda Operandi. For this collection, Sidis-Simkhai and his design partner ventured into lab-grown sapphires and emeralds, as well as an ivory-coloured ceramic exclusive to Moda.
The collection has expanded to include two-stone rings and huggie hoop earrings.
Minty doesn’t have a bi-annual collection schedule, but intends to expand the range every year.
The excitement of imagining the possibilities of lab-grown diamonds keeps Sidis-Simkhai energised for the future.
“Now we’re getting closer to the idea that you could make an entire ring shank out of a [lab-grown] diamond; you can use lab-grown diamonds as different parts that you don’t normally use for [natural] diamonds in jewellery,” he says.
