John Hardy On 50 Years Of Sustainability & Going Big on Diamonds

2025 promises to be a big year for John Hardy, the silver-centric jewelry brand established in 1975. Fast-forward half a century, sustainability and eco-minded practices are on trend to become norms, thanks to the natural surroundings on the tiny Indonesian island of Bali where the brand’s pieces are made.

Preserving and enriching the lands and communities from which the brand gathers inspiration, founder John Hardy exemplified these beliefs and processes, similarly to natural diamonds, long before they became industry buzzwords. Being in line with nature has also meant the brand’s exclusive use of natural diamonds to date.

The Bali-based jewelry brand shared how eco-activism and sourcing stones for its Artisan Series come together with Only Natural Diamonds.

John Hardy Creative Chairman Reed Krakoff shared his conviction for natural diamonds. The brand’s core lines such as Spear and Black Sand and the Artisan Series rely on naturally mined diamonds. “Mined diamonds represent a particular value proposition and represent heritage and traditions to many people. With that history, there is a weightiness and importance to it,” Krakoff said. Indeed, 10 million people worldwide depend on the natural diamond industry for education, healthcare and earning a fair, living wage.

“The Artisan Series are one-of-a-kind pieces that relates to new design icons but propels them forward through the use exclusive gemstones, new setting techniques, and a more creative, innovative design proposition,” Krakoff tells Only Natural Diamonds.

Highlights of the Artisan Series include the 18K gold and diamond pavé with diamond baguette clasp Spear Coil necklace, Spear Flex Cuff, and Spear Ring, whose materials cast the styles into the five and six-figure range. A riff on a Pebble Collection ring uses pavé of blue sapphires, peridots, emeralds, tsavorites, and yellow sapphires for an ombre effect.

Mined diamonds represent a particular value proposition and represent heritage and traditions to many people.

Krakoff aims to complement the brand’s exceptional craftsmanship and describes the process as more organic, mainly thanks to the unique nature of the stones. “Sometimes you design something but don’t come across a stone that makes sense, and then the design can change entirely,” he says.

The Artisan Series has resonated with clients with pieces selling out. “It’s early days, but this collection has helped create a desire for more precious, rare, and proprietary things at a higher price. There are a lot of brands you can buy expensive diamonds from. Still, it must be the right piece, the right design, the right price, the right brand for it to be successful,” Krakoff continued.

The no-waste left-behind phenomenon aligns with the ideals the brand has always held. According to Chief Marketing Officer Matt Tepper, Hardy was an eco-activist long before the term existed. “Since 1975, sustainability and social impact thinking was built into the core of the business, and it remains a core part of the business and a source of employee pride,” he explains. 

John Hardy puts these ideals into action by being a member of the Responsible Jewelry Council; its ethical sourcing practice includes using 100% reclaimed silver and gold; its Artisan workshop in Bali, a triumphant bamboo, thatched roof compound built with low-impact and native materials designed to leave minimal footprints. It sits on 400 acres of rice paddies, a working organic rice farm that helps feed the employees and locals with its crops watered with recycled water from the workshop. The towering bamboo retail store sits above sacred irrigation systems to run undisturbed on the farm. It powers its facilities using 100 percent renewable energy, and 99 percent of production waste is upcycled or recycled through various initiatives and partnerships.

Giving back to the natural landscape by helping repopulate bamboo trees has been an initiative the brand has been involved with for almost 20 years and one which the brand is hoping to further expand through a new yet-to-be-announced partnership in 2025, ensuring not only a steady future for John Hardy but also the Balinese region that supports them. But investing in the humans of Bali is also at the brand core.

“We continue to push how we can continue to evolve our positive impact on the world around us, including programs we are investing in growing, such as John Hardy’s “Jobs for Life” program which allows at-risk youth to apply for positions within the company without any previous experience and receive training and mentorship into a full-time job,” Tepper noted, adding, “One of our current jewelry designers graduated from this program over 30 years ago.

The brand has long supported women, especially mothers who care for young children, with silver weaving roles that can be performed at home. “John Hardy is committed to empowering women to break gender barriers, including hiring and training women in our workshops for jobs traditionally only available to men.”

With these ideals in mind, it only made sense for the brand to source natural diamonds for their pieces, an industry also invested in positive social impact with programs funding healthcare, infrastructure, wildlife conservation and more in regions where natural diamonds are recovered.