How Savannah Friedkin Champions Sustainability In The Jewelry Industry

Fine jewelry may be luxurious, but the industry can be anything but, with a lot to improve in terms of sustainable and ethical practices. Savannah Friedkin, the founder of her namesake fine jewelry brand, has stepped onto the scene to prove that luxury can be both beautiful and environmentally friendly. I spoke with her recently to learn more about how she started the brand and what it means for a jewelry brand to be committed to sustainability.

Savannah has always had a passion for combining creativity with conservation, as well as a strong entrepreneurial spirit. She earned her MBA at London Business School and focused on entrepreneurship “with the goal of building something of my own”, she explained. She desired to create a brand that was innovative and beautiful but also reflected her values, and “with the innovation and disruption caused by lab-grown diamonds,” she became inspired to launch Savannah Friedkin Jewelry, which she initially ideated as a project during a summer program at business school. Once the program had ended, she couldn’t stop thinking about the idea and set out to launch it for real.

When it came to starting the brand, she knew how important it was to surround herself with an incredible team with experience in the fine jewelry field. “Coming as an outsider,” she explained, “there was a steep learning curve, especially when it came to the complexities of the supply chain," so hiring team members to help her navigate the jewelry world and find the right suppliers was essential. And because the brand is committed to sustainable practices, that became an especially tricky hurdle. “We hold ourselves to high standards when it comes to sustainability, ethical practices, and traceability, which limits our options, but it’s something we won’t compromise on.”

So, how does one make a sustainable jewelry brand? That mission begins with the raw materials. “We only use certified recycled gold," Savannah shared, “which means the gold had a previous life and has been refined and repurposed into something new, without the need for additional mining.” For the diamonds, they are SCS-certified, which “is the highest level of certification for traceability, sustainability, and ethicality in sourcing.” Savannah and her team also visited each of their manufacturers and suppliers to independently audit them and ensure that all their partners are equally “committed to supporting the communities in which they operate, and the planet as well.”

Transparency in the process is huge for Savannah and her team, which is why their website features a detailed FAQ with an entire section on “Product/Sustainability/Environment” to provide more information on how the brand sources its materials and manufactures its products. “If a brand is clearly sharing their goals and accreditations,” she explained, “the more likely they are to be following their claimed practices.” As a consumer, if you’re shopping for sustainable jewelry, look at brands like Savannah Friedkin that are clear about their practices and sustainability goals.

Of course, it’s still important for the jewelry to look beautiful, which is why Savannah spends just as much time designing the collections. Of her first collection, Broken, she shared that it “came from a time in my life, and in the lives of many women I love, when we were feeling a bit fractured.” She was inspired by how those moments of vulnerability, whether they be career struggles, fertility challenges, mental health, and so on, sparked deep connection and created a “beautiful common ground”. The resulting collection features fractured and fragmented gold and silver pieces that mesmerize with their unique designs.

Her second collection, Emergence, is full of constellation-like diamond pieces, which Savannah said symbolized new growth. She “was inspired by the image of a plant breaking through concrete, life finding a way in the most unexpected places.” The third collection, SAV, is a “celebration of simplicity” utilizing the brand’s monogram to create stunning gold pieces. She described this collection as a badge of honor of sorts, saying that “it’s a quiet way of saying you belong to this tribe of women who honor each other’s stories and are committed to doing right by the planet.”

Building up that tribe is a big focus for Savannah and the brand this year as they continue to grow. To build connections and community with new customers, she’s focused on residencies, pop-ups, and brand trips to share the Savannah Friedkin mission with the world. The brand recently hosted its first-ever brand trip with a mix of content creators, sustainability advocates, and editors at Susurros del Corazón outside of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to bring the brand’s ethos to life during the three-day retreat.

They’re also gearing up to host their second residency at Hotel Jerome in Aspen from mid-June to September to continue to establish a strong foundation with their customers, as well as several fun pop-up events around the U.S. through the summer. For a brand that is so much about the storytelling behind the beautiful pieces, I love how this provides a great way to share what makes the designs so unique and get customers invested in the brand on a deeper level.

With these exciting upcoming events, the goal to launch in the United Kingdom later this year, and the just-released Broken Hand Chain, there’s no shortage of exciting growth to come for the Savannah Friedkin brand. It’s a true testament that sustainability, even in the fine jewelry space, is not only possible but beautiful.