INTERNATIONAL: They say diamonds are forever and are also a girl’s best friend, but diamonds are now also seen as Earth’s best friend, at least the ones being produced by a new tech start-up in New York.

We all find them eye-catching but Aether Diamonds’ sparklers are catching the attention of investors, looking to pump money into industries that are helping reduce carbon emissions. Aether Diamonds is growing diamonds in a lab using captured carbon dioxide. That’s carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere, rather than carbon mined from the ground. Company CEO, Ryan Shearman, says customers are lapping it up:

"So we have found that consumers are willing to pay a premium for stone like ours that is sourced in a way that is beneficial to the planet, and that gives us a kind of a unique competitive strength in the market. This allows us to do things that others can't. We dedicate a whole bunch of funding from the sale of every piece to further external decarbonization work. The company has a committed goal of removing 20 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere for every carat of diamond that we sell. And that would only be empowered by this revenue model.”

And while they might be made out of the air no-one wants, these diamonds don’t come cheap. You can expect to pay anywhere from $1,100 to $45,000 for something off the shelf. For custom-made pieces, you’re going to need considerably more cash.

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF DIAMONDS MADE FROM CARBON / VARIOUS OF DIAMONDS BEING POLISHED / VARIOUS OF DIAMONDS BEING SET IN RINGS / VARIOUS OF RINGS BEING INSPECTED / VARIOUS OF LAB WHERE CARBON RECYCLING WORK IS DONE / VARIOUS OF CARBON DIOXIDE STORAGE TANK / VARIOUS OF LAB WORK}