Anabela Chan

35B Sloane St, SW1X 9LP · 02078232700

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Anabela Chan founded the house in London in 2013 and describes it as the first fine jewellery brand in the world to champion laboratory-grown and created gemstones with high jewellery design. Whether that claim to primacy is precisely right, the position is genuine and unusual: this is lab-grown treated as the premium product rather than the budget option.

That is worth understanding against the rest of this site. Every one of the great houses, De Beers, Graff, Asprey, Bvlgari, Tiffany, sells natural stones only. Anabela Chan is the clearest opposing case, and the argument is not price but provenance: laboratory-grown gemstones, in her words, are responsibly sourced without the untraceable provenance.

The material choices go further than the stones. She recycles aluminium from soda cans into signature pieces, uses around 80 per cent recycled precious metals in the main collections, and runs the boutique and atelier on renewable energy. Where natural stones are used, she states every one is traced back to the individual miner, who receives 90 to 95 per cent of the export price.

Bespoke begins with a private consultation with the design team, working through inspiration, style, gemstones and the symbolism you want the piece to carry. Making involves hand-carving the design in wax, casting in parts, then assembling, polishing and engraving.

Ready-to-wear is also sold online with published prices. The bridal collection is short, just three rings at £1,290, £2,600 and £2,900. Elsewhere the Turquoise Mermaid ring is £1,590 and Emerald Cascade earrings £2,690. No bespoke minimum or timescale is published.

A collaboration with Diamond Foundry produces diamonds she describes as grown to the same optical and gemological structure as mined stones with a zero carbon footprint, including stones made using atmospheric carbon dioxide capture.

This suits someone who has thought about sourcing and concluded that a laboratory-grown stone is the more defensible choice, and who wants that in a piece with genuine design ambition rather than a plain solitaire from a discount site.

It also suits a buyer who wants colour. The collections lead with turquoise, emerald and other coloured gems rather than white diamonds.

It will not suit you if you want a natural stone, if resale value matters, or if you want a conventional ring. The design voice is strong and deliberately unusual, which is the point and also the limit.