Reviewed by Yoona's in-house jewelry experts
Short answer: Yoona uses lab-grown diamonds and recycled or repurposed precious metals in every piece. Here's specifically what that means, what we can verify, and what we don't claim.
Lab-Grown Diamonds, With No Exceptions
Quick answer: Every diamond we offer is lab-grown and IGI certified, meaning it avoids the land disruption, tailings waste, and marine impact that mining involves.
This is a structural sourcing decision, not a marketing claim we layer on afterward. Every center stone in every piece is lab-grown, verified by an independent IGI certificate, so you're never choosing between our stated values and what actually shipped.
For the full picture of what's guaranteed and what's genuinely contested in the lab-grown sustainability conversation, see Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Actually Sustainable?
Recycled and Repurposed Metals, in Every Piece
Quick answer: Yoona uses recycled and repurposed gold and platinum across our jewelry, reducing demand for newly mined metal. This is standard across our entire catalog, not limited to a specific collection.
Newly mined gold carries its own significant environmental cost, extraction, processing, and refining that parallel many of the same issues as diamond mining. Recycled metal puts existing gold and platinum back into circulation without requiring new mining, and it's a sourcing decision built into how every piece is manufactured, not an upsell or a limited-run feature.
What We're Honest We Don't Claim
Quick answer: We don't currently claim our diamonds are grown using renewable energy, and we don't cite specific carbon footprint statistics for our own supply chain, because we can't yet verify either claim to the standard we'd want backing it.
It would be easy to round up here, plenty of brands do. We'd rather tell you plainly what we haven't verified than make a claim that sounds better than what we can actually stand behind. If and when we can verify our growers' energy sources and back a specific carbon claim with real data, we'll say so directly, and we'll say so here first.
How We Back Up What We Do Claim
Quick answer: Every diamond ships with independent IGI certification confirming lab-grown origin, verified by a third party, not by us.
The certificate that arrives with your diamond independently confirms it's lab-grown. You don't have to take our word for it, an outside lab already has. That's the same standard we'd want applied to any claim we make, verifiable, not just asserted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Yoona use conflict-free sourcing?
Yes, lab-grown diamonds carry none of the conflict-sourcing risk associated with mined stones, since their origin is known from the moment they're grown.
Are all Yoona pieces made with recycled metal?
Yes, it's standard across our full catalog, not limited to specific collections or price points.
Will Yoona ever make renewable-energy or specific carbon claims?
Only once we can verify them directly. We won't make a claim we can't back with real confirmation, even if it would sound better in the meantime.
Our Standard Going Forward
Sustainability at Yoona means claiming only what we can verify, lab-grown, recycled metals, IGI certification, and staying honest about what's still open. Combined with the Yoona Eternal Diamond™ standard, D–F color, VVS1–VS1 clarity, Excellent to Very Good cut, it means the same piece that meets our quality bar also meets a sourcing standard we can actually stand behind.
