Eddie Borgo’s Dreamy Natural Diamond Designs Are Something to Talk About
The designer’s first fine jewelry collection is made with recycled natural diamonds and fairmined and recycled gold.
Designer Eddie Borgo was dreaming of palm fronds fluttering in the breeze when he created his first natural diamond jewelry collection. “Palms represent relaxation and a sense of romanticism,” said the designer from his Los Angeles studio.
After 15 years creating trend-setting costume jewelry and collaborating with some of the biggest fashion brands, Borgo says he wanted to develop a collection of heirloom quality pieces that his clients will pass down to the next generation. And diamonds were a natural extension: “I’ve always been drawn a diamond’s white sparkle.”
During his research into natural diamonds, he met a vintage dealer in Los Angeles who introduced him to the world of old diamonds, and he was instantly obsessed.
“Antique diamonds have an energy,” says Borgo, “there is a history and story in diamonds that had another life.” A set of pear-shaped stones with slightly scalloped edges (about 1.8 carats each), for example, were once in a 1930s necklace discovered in London. He plans to set them in earrings. “You never see those sorts of cuts in modern stones.”
His clients were equally captivated by vintage diamonds. “They want to know the stone’s provenance and think it’s special to have a 100-year-old diamond.”
At a time when consumers increasingly want to know about a product’s origins, the Palms collection ticks all the boxes. It’s what Borgo calls an “intimate” collection with just 10 limited edition designs, each signed and numbered and made with recycled or certified fairmined 18-karat gold.
Every diamond comes with a GIA certification and hand-written description of the stone’s history, where it was discovered and, when available, the story of its former piece. Borgo’s dealer sources diamonds from around the world, including Rome, Geneva, Paris, and New York, primarily from the 1920s to 1950s.
Borgo’s loyal fans need not worry; he’s still creating his fabulous costume jewelry, but this adds another dimension to his thriving costume jewelry business. “I just couldn’t get my head around lab grown diamonds,” Borgo said about choosing to work with natural diamonds and recycled 18-karat gold. “It takes a lot of energy, water, and electricity to build lab grown diamonds in an incubator. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
I just couldn’t get my head around lab grown diamonds,” Borgo said about choosing to work with natural diamonds and recycled 18-karat gold.
It takes a lot of energy, water, and electricity to build lab grown diamonds in an incubator. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
The move into natural diamonds was part of his business reset. Five years ago, Borgo moved his business and life from New York to Los Angeles, where he scaled back on the number of stores who sell his pieces. The move also prompted him to think about working in precious materials and something more sustainable saying, “We are living in a world where we are thinking about how things are made and where we spend our money.”
While the palm frond appears simple, it actually took a few years to master how make them appear delicate and fluttering, while maintaining the metal’s strength. The gold fronds start flat, and an artisan manipulates each leaf, so it is articulated in varying directions. The result is sculptural rings with fronds embracing a diamond; wavy drop earrings with diamond drops; and a collar with two fronds dangling down the front with a diamond drop.
“We wanted them to remain really fragile so that they had that same sort of essence of a palm tree,” says Borgo. While they appear delicate, there’s substance to a socially conscious diamond jewelry collection. And who doesn’t love a diamond with a good backstory?
