For Adelle Archer of Eterneva, what began as an exploration into lab-grown diamonds soon evolved into something far more profound—a way to transform human connection into something tangible and lasting.
Inspired by the loss of a dear mentor and friend, Archer discovered the possibility of creating diamonds from the carbon in ashes. That revelation became the foundation of a brand that redefines how we honor and celebrate the people, pets and moments that shape our lives.
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From intricate custom designs to groundbreaking advancements in diamond creation, her work proves that luxury can be both meaningful and mindful—turning love, loss, and legacy into something eternal.
We sat down with Archer to chat about diamonds and creating immortal moments.
What inspired you to build a brand that intersects sustainability, science, emotional storytelling and luxury fashion?
Garett, my co-founder, and I have always known that we wanted to do something that was bigger than ourselves. Something that was impactful and improved people's lives in some way. We had met at a tech company, and we knew right away that we wanted to build something together, and we were very interested in the lab grown diamond space, but we didn’t necessarily know where we’d start.
Then on the personal side of my life, I actually had my best friend and my business mentor get diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer out of the blue. Tracy was such a huge part of my twenties and just my life in general. I think we can all count on one hand who are the people that have played big roles in our lives and we are who we are because of them. And if they weren't a family member, why did they come into our lives and take us under their wings? Sometimes you don't know, but you just get to be grateful for it. She was that person for me.
We had many conversations about how she wanted to be honored, and I set a really high bar because she was such an epic, legendary person, so I wanted to make sure whatever we did would be worthy of her. While she knew she wanted to be cremated, she wasn’t sure what to do with her ashes. So, I began researching options, and one night over dinner, the diamond scientist we were working with for Garrett and I’s brand said, “Well, Adelle, there’s carbon in ashes. If we can figure out how to extract it, maybe I can grow a diamond from her carbon.”
Immediately I was like, oh my gosh, that is the best idea I've ever heard. She is such a diamond, she would love this. It became very obvious to me that this was the business that I would love to build. And even now as I tell the story of the creation of Eterneva, I think it's so cool that Tracy is at the centerpiece of all of it. She gets talked about every single day.
Your diamonds are crafted in the hair of loved ones, including pets. How do you approach the deeply personal and emotional nature of your work while maintaining your focus on innovation?
In my opinion, if you're doing it right, you're so close to your end customer that they are your source of innovation. You end up evolving naturally through things that you learn from them.
A good example for us was, in the beginning, we actually did think it was all about the diamond. We thought this is just such a beautiful way to carry somebody who's really special and important to you and with you all of the time that the diamond itself was enough. And as we got started, all we were looking to do was be really transparent with people. We wanted people to know what's going on at every stage, this is where your loved one is now, etc. so they had comfort, confidence, and total trust in us and our work.
What we didn’t anticipate was that with every update we sent, people would have these incredible reactions. They would be crying and letting us know they were sharing our updates with all their friends and family. They would have watch parties to watch our updates. People would be checking in with our customers asking how their diamond process was going.
In the wake of losing someone, especially when you’ve lost them suddenly, family and friends can get uncomfortable and they don't want to bother you or upset you. While well-intentioned, this can be isolating and hard for the griever. With our process, people are so excited to check in and want to know how the diamond is going, and we had no idea what a strong effect this would have on our customers. Baylor University actually studied our work and found that 82% of people who came out of our process were actually doing better with their grief than someone who had done nothing at all.
Now our diamond journey has evolved to be just that, a journey. It's about so much more than just the final diamond and we truly discovered that just through user insights. Supporting our customers through their grief journeys is now a major pillar of Eterneva, even going so far as to do little surprise things for our clients, like lighting a candle for a client's loved one on their birthday and sending them a text saying “We’re celebrating with you today.”
You can also make these with people who are very much still alive and your pets. Can you speak a little bit about that part of your business and how you're memorializing these moments, these unions, people's pets, and things like that?
I would say our beginnings very much were rooted in memorialization and honoring those who are no longer with us. But because, to your point, we can do this from the carbon in hair or items of personal significance, it does extend the ability to create something that's so special and so bespoke for really any relationship– or as a celebration of anything that's really special and important to you.
We've actually been seeing a lot of living diamond traction in the equestrian world. We have a lot of equestrian families, and while they are sometimes doing it for a horse that's passed, we’re seeing that they often are having diamonds made in celebration of a horse that’s competing and has won a really big show. It's in honor of that moment, that horse, that connection, and that bond.
Then we're also seeing moms wanting to have diamonds made from their kids' hair. It's kind of a really rad anniversary gift if you think about it. Like your 10-year anniversary you take yours and your husband’s hair together to grow a diamond. That's actually how my husband and I did our wedding rings. Both of us have diamonds that were made from our carbon and we engraved our personal core values into the edge of the diamond. So they're just really special and personal to us.
That's really interesting about horses too.
Totally! We’re finding that the customers from the equestrian world are doing really creative things. I'd love to set my horse's diamond in a really high-end watch. We had a customer who had her horse for seven years, and so she had seven diamonds made to signify every year that they had together. She set them in a necklace and now wears it every time she competes for good luck. We've done some really beautiful, really intricate pieces for that community.
What are some of the most intricate pieces that you've created?
Oh my gosh. For the majority of our families, we support them with designing the settings and so we end up doing a lot of them ourselves. We have a jewelry design team in-house and can craft just about anything. They want to be able to tell a story of their loved one and have little elements that speak to that.
We recently had somebody tell us, “my mom loved the ocean, and she also had this beautiful radiant personality,” so we crafted a blue diamond ring that has a wave in it and these beautiful sun rays coming out the base of the diamond. There are these little elements that just kind of pick up who her mom was.
We also get to do some really cool collaborations from time to time. My co-founder unfortunately lost his brother-in-law a couple of years ago to LS. The two of them were really, really close and their best pastime together was golfing, so Garrett is having Joe's diamond set in a putter so that he can continue to play golf with him.
Sustainability is a cornerstone of your brand. Can you tell us some of the steps that you take to minimize your environmental footprint?
We’re incredibly mindful of our environmental footprint, especially considering the importance of the memories we’re helping families preserve. In fact, Eterneva offers a truly eco-friendly alternative to traditional ways of memorializing someone.
One of the key aspects of our process is low energy consumption. The machines we use to transform ashes into diamonds operate on a remarkably small amount of electricity—about the same as an HVAC unit in a 1,500-square-foot home. So, the energy demand is incredibly low for something as precious as a diamond, which means minimal strain on the environment.
Additionally, our process is zero emissions. Our diamond machines produce no harmful waste or emissions, which is something we’re really proud of. The only thing our machines consume is energy, and we make sure it’s used as efficiently as possible.
What's been one of the most memorable experiences shared by one of your clients that's reinforced why you really started this journey?
Oh my gosh, there are so many. A lot of families we work with have lost their loved ones too soon. It's particularly challenging for them when everybody stops talking about their person. We serve a lot of parents, a lot of people who have lost babies or kids and I remember one of our moms saying to me, “I love my diamonds so much and I love my ring so much, and I can't tell you how many compliments I get, and it just lights me up because then I get to talk about Katie.” When people ask her where she got it she gets to tell them “Actually, that's my daughter” and gets to share that story in a really special way.
Another one that comes to mind is a couple of months ago I flew out to New York and met Francesca Scorsese for dinner. She actually did a diamond for her dog and I was bringing his diamond home to her. I chatted with the waitress ahead of time and let her know that it was a special dinner and that Francesca’s pup was coming home today so I wanted to make it really special. Well, they had this rotating sign that could display a message that happened to be right behind Francesca’s seat. So she came and we had dinner and at the end, the waitress updated the sign to say “Welcome home, Yi” and as she was unboxing Yi’s diamond I got to say “Oh, and look” and pointed behind her. She turned around and it was so special, she was super emotional.
We always look for a way that we can over-deliver and make it super special, it is at the heart of who we are as a brand, and we do this for every customer and not just our Francesca Scorseses. And then, more recently, we've actually had some families reach out to us who lost their homes in the LA fires about having diamonds made from the ashes of their homes, and we can do that. So we’re really grateful to be able to help those affected by such a tragedy in any small way we can.
What does the design process look like for one of the diamonds and how much customization is available? Obviously you just mentioned the settings, but generally, what does that process look like?
Up front you'll speak with our team and have a very personal conversation. We'll learn a lot about you and we'll learn a lot about your loved one. It's more like talking to a friend than a company. You’re interacting with just authentic, kind, real people who genuinely want to help you create something that feels like the full expression of what you’re looking to create. And so by learning a lot about the person or pet that you're doing this for, it allows us to then support you with what you envision doing.
Next is color, then shape and cut. There's a lot of meaning that can go into the color that you pick. Does the diamond remind you of someone’s eye color, their favorite color that they wore all the time, or just a color that really speaks to their essence? And then for some folks, it's more about the sparkle, which comes down to shape and cut. Many people want a diamond that is super sparkly so that when the sun hits it they have a moment where they notice it and then think about the person. We'll support and guide them through these decisions to ensure they end up with a finished product they’re super happy with.
Actually just recently in the last year, we unlocked some new capabilities that are allowing us to go all the way up to a five-carat diamond. We're the only company that can do really big diamonds, so when it comes to size, we can offer all of the possibilities.
After size, color, and cut we can go and create the diamond. And then once we're through the diamond creation process, then we'll start consulting on settings and designing exactly what they're looking to do. The whole process takes on average about seven to 10 months and is very similar to if you commissioned an artist to paint a custom piece for your home. They would do a lot of intake to understand you and your vision and to really help bring that vision to life.
Learn more about Eterneva’s process and pricing plans at eterneva.com.
