Carbon-Based Gems, Carbon-Based Consequences

Speakers: Sarah Steele

Diamonds may promise forever love, but the first synthetic ‘forever’ belonged to jet - and the story of that gem has been largely forgotten. When Victorian demand for Whitby jet outpaced supply, the race to create a synthetic led to plastic, a ‘gem’ of innovation that has directly contributed to the rise of a new geological era, the Anthropocene.

Today, lab-grown diamonds are marketed as sustainable innovation, but history warns us: synthetic gems rarely disappear when their beauty fades.

Join Sarah Steele, Director of the Ebor Jetworks and Curator of Jet at Whitby Museum, to learn more.

This event is presented by the .

Image credit: Sarah Steele

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Host or Publisher York Festival of Ideas