What a great time for female entrepreneurs. We are delighted to share with you features and essays written by super women with inspiring careers and businesses that are reshaping our economy and the way we consume. They share their journey, the process it took them to get to where they are now and what they’ve learnt along the way.
Welcome to Modern Mentors.
There are several different facets of my life that brought me down this path towards designing jewelry. My mother has had a long term love affair with diamonds and my father had a career in finance. After college, I followed in my father’s footsteps and went into finance but it was short-lived because it wasn’t where my heart was. I eventually made my way to Bobbi Brown Cosmetics to help oversee the international markets and launch the brand in various countries. It gave me great exposure, while working under strong and influential businesswomen. These women were supporting each other and doing what they loved; all while building businesses, brands, and raising families.
Finding reason
After I had my own family, I started to think about what my legacy would be. I was spending time with my mom resetting jewelry on 46th and 47th streets in Manhattan and going to shows, when I was reintroduced to lab diamonds. I didn’t understand why this sustainable option for real diamonds wasn’t more widely known or available, especially in pieces that I wanted to wear every day and eventually pass onto my kids. That is when KBH Jewels was born.
I wanted to create jewelry that serves as beautiful modern heirlooms, pieces that can be passed down to future generations. It is all about doing something for the world that my children are going to live in and eventually share with their own families. Something that is traditional and part of our legacy.
Realizations and learning
Lab diamonds are physically, chemically, and optically identical to mined diamonds; the only difference is the point of origin. This means that you don’t have to irreversibly damage the earth and I didn’t understand why this option wasn’t more readily available. It was as if there was this big clean secret that the diamond producers association doesn’t want you to know about. We want to make it the big clean secret – cultivated diamonds are real diamonds. Then, we wanted to take it a step further. We didn’t just want a company with lab diamonds and call that sustainable because the only clean gold out there is recycled gold. Everything we do from product to packaging is sourced from ethical, sustainable, and reclaimed methods.
From the beginning we’ve worked with strong partners like Mercuryfreemining.org, Ethical Metalsmiths, Earthworks – “No Dirty Gold” and “Ditch Ocean Dumping” campaigns and MJSA – Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths of America.
There was a hole in the market for our consumer who believes that sustainable materials and modern luxury are one in the same.
Setting up ideals
KBH Jewels is setting a new luxury tradition for our generation and the standard for generations to come. Our belief is that modern luxury should only be sustainable luxury. We believe jewelry should be beautiful, aspirational, covetable, and lifelong. But it should also be sustainable, thoughtful, and innovative where possible. This is modern luxury.
The heart of our line offers elevated essentials and modern classics; the upscale uniform for the ethical and sustainable individual. We design pieces for the women in our life who play a multitude of roles. Women are moms, daughters, sisters, wives, professionals, friends, protectors – we do it all. We want our jewelry to make these women feel even more empowered than they already are.
The successes
We are celebrating one year this winter, but prior to launching we had so much interest and anticipation. Molly Sims was the first to request pieces and wear them to events. For us, she was such an amazing example of what our brand represents – a mom, humanitarian, and all-around beautiful individual – and she was calling on KBH Jewels to help her look and feel good. It was then that we realized that what mattered to us resonated with others too. For us, that’s really what this is all about. Of course, we wanted to create beautiful pieces of jewelry that women would want to wear but having a sustainable option in this space also mattered to us. Before we even launched, we recognized that our values and what we were trying to do spoke to others. That was a huge moment for me because what I envision was finally becoming a reality.
We are so humbled to have strong, smart women that we look up to like Jessica Alba, Kate Mara, Ashley Graham, Elizabeth Banks, and Indya Moore to name few, wear our jewelry. It’s our dream to have female icons like Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwen Stefani, and Blake Lively, wear our jewels and one day pass them on to their family. To me, these individuals represent strong women who embody the KBH values.
We try to have circular practices in everything we do, but the truth is, it is not yet an option when it comes to every facet of our daily business. We are consistently challenged with digging deeper, asking questions and researching ways to do things differently. This requires creative thinking and a lot of research, but it really makes the endgame much more rewarding.
it’s not about being perfect, it’s about trying to do better. KBH Jewels is setting a new luxury tradition for our generation and the standard for generations to come.
Kimberly Berry Haisch
KBH Jewels wants other businesses to know that it is possible to create luxury products sustainably. It’s easy to source parts and pieces in a non-sustainable way because they are more widely available, but we take the extra step towards sustainability. Everything about this process has made me try harder and think more. The more you look, the more you see.
I hope the future of KBH Jewels is one that educates people and inspires them to make small changes that are going to have a big impact on the world around us.
Shop
To shop KBH, visit: kbhjewels.com
