A New Standard of Luxury: Inside KARAAT with Julia Hakanpää
text by Natalia Muntean
In an industry long defined by tradition and opacity, Julia Hakanpää is part of a new wave reshaping the meaning of fine jewellery. As founder and CEO of KARAAT, the Finnish brand championing lab-grown diamonds and recycled gold, she is building a vision of luxury rooted not only in craftsmanship and design, but in transparency and responsibility. What began as a personal search for an engagement ring has since evolved into a growing label challenging conventions and redefining modern heirlooms.
Natalia Muntean: You discovered lab-grown diamonds while searching for your own engagement ring. What was the exact moment you realised this wasn’t just a purchase, but a business idea?
Julia Hakanpää: The moment came during our visit to Antwerp. I remember sitting across the table from our partner there, learning about lab-grown diamonds for the first time. I was fascinated that something so beautiful and technologically advanced existed, yet almost no one in the Nordics was talking about it.
What made the moment particularly powerful was that I had just gone through the exact experience that many of our customers have today. I had been the customer searching for an engagement ring, trying to understand the options, and wanting to feel confident about the choice I was making.
It immediately struck me how different that experience could be. Here was a gemstone with the same physical and optical properties as mined diamonds, but without many of the environmental or ethical concerns tied to mining. It answered so many of the questions I had been struggling with myself.
That was when the idea started to form. If this discovery felt so meaningful to me as a customer, it could feel the same way to many others. Bringing lab-grown diamonds to the Nordics suddenly felt less like a business opportunity and more like something that simply needed to happen.
NM: KARAAT was born out of a desire to “update” a traditional industry. What, in your opinion, most urgently needs updating?
JH: For me, the biggest thing was transparency. When we were looking for engagement rings, I often felt that the industry relied heavily on tradition and authority; customers were expected to trust the process without always understanding it. There wasn’t always clear information about where diamonds came from, how they were produced, or what different choices really meant.
At the same time, from a design perspective, I struggled to find pieces that felt like me. Many of the designs I encountered felt overly traditional or simply not aligned with my style. I was looking for something timeless, but with a fresh and modern feeling. Today’s customers want to feel informed and confident in their decisions, but they also want design that reflects the way they live today. With KARAAT, I wanted to create what I call modern heirlooms, pieces that feel contemporary today but will still look beautiful and relevant decades from now.
Updating the industry, in my view, means combining traditional craftsmanship with modern transparency, responsible materials, and a design language that speaks to a new generation.
NM: How has your original vision for KARAAT evolved in the past five years?
JH: In the beginning, the vision was quite focused: introducing lab-grown diamonds to the Nordic market and helping people understand that there was another option. When we started, lab-grown diamonds were still relatively unknown in our region. A large part of our work was simply educating customers and building trust around something new to many people.
Over the past five years, that vision has grown into something much bigger. Today, KARAAT is not only about introducing lab-grown diamonds – it’s about redefining what modern fine jewellery can look like. It’s about combining responsible materials with timeless design, exceptional craftsmanship, and a more personal way of experiencing jewellery. What hasn’t changed is the core idea. We still want to create pieces that feel meaningful, transparent, and lasting. The difference is that today we see the potential to build something much larger, a brand that resonates far beyond the Nordics.
NM: Lab-grown diamonds were once a “well-kept secret”. What misconceptions do you still encounter today?
JH: The most common misconception is still that lab-grown diamonds are somehow different from mined ones in terms of quality or authenticity.
In reality, they are chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined diamonds. They are graded using the same standards and can only be distinguished in specialised laboratories.
Another persistent myth is that mined diamonds retain their value better. When founding KARAAT, I learned much more about the traditional diamond industry and the mark-ups that have historically existed within it. Many of the early lab-grown diamond brands shared the same mission: bringing those mark-ups down and creating a more transparent market for customers.
The value of jewellery, in my view, is not defined by speculative resale prices. The true value lies in the materials and craftsmanship, gold and diamonds that, when cared for properly, last for generations. That durability is what allows jewellery to become heirlooms.
For many people, discovering lab-grown diamonds is still a moment of surprise, very similar to the one I experienced myself years ago in Antwerp.
NM: Sustainability is often used as a marketing term. For you personally, what does responsibility truly mean in luxury?
JH: For me, responsibility in luxury starts with honesty and transparency. Customers today want to understand what they are buying, where materials come from, how they are produced, and the impact behind them. Luxury should never rely on mystery or blind trust. People deserve clear information so they can make choices that align with their own values.
At KARAAT, we work with lab-grown diamonds produced using renewable energy and 18-karat recycled gold, and our pieces are crafted by highly skilled goldsmiths in Italy. For us, responsibility is not only about the materials themselves, but also about craftsmanship and longevity, creating jewellery that is made with care and designed to last. True luxury should never be disposable. Gold and diamonds are incredibly durable materials, and when they are crafted well and cared for properly, they can be worn for generations.
At the same time, responsibility is an ongoing process. We are constantly looking for ways to improve what we do and how we do it. For me, responsible luxury means creating something beautiful that people can feel proud to wear, today and many years from now.
NM: In a world of fast fashion and trends, how do you design pieces meant to become heirlooms?
JH: We design with longevity in mind from the very beginning. Our aesthetic is rooted in Scandinavian minimalism, which naturally makes the designs feel timeless. We always try to incorporate a small detail, proportion, or setting that gives each design its own quiet twist. A big part of our design process also comes from listening to our customers. We pay close attention to how people wear their jewellery and what they are looking for. Our pieces are designed to be stacked, combined, and worn together so that customers can gradually build their own forever jewellery collection over time.
The goal is to create pieces that feel effortless to wear every day, but still meaningful enough to mark important moments in life. If a piece can accompany someone through many different chapters — and still feel beautiful decades later — then it has the potential to become an heirloom.
NM: You speak about women gifting themselves jewellery as symbols of strength and milestones. Why is that narrative important to you?
JH: There is something very special about owning a piece of jewellery with a diamond. It often carries so much meaning, emotion, and symbolism. Historically, fine jewellery has mostly been associated with gifts from someone else — engagements, anniversaries, or celebrations given by a partner. But we see this with our customers every day: today, many women choose jewellery to mark their own achievements and milestones such as a promotion, starting a company, the birth of a child, or simply a moment of personal growth. I find that incredibly powerful. Jewellery becomes not just a symbol of love between people, but also a symbol of self-recognition and independence.
Many of the customers we meet also have a piece of jewellery from their parents or grandparents. Those pieces often carry stories and emotions that travel across generations. I think there is something very beautiful about that continuity — the idea that a piece of jewellery can hold meaning for decades and eventually become part of a family’s history.
NM: How has being a female founder shaped the way you build and lead KARAAT?
JH: Being a female founder has shaped the brand in many ways because I feel deeply connected to the customer perspective. I was once the customer we serve today, and that experience continues to guide many of the decisions we make.
I also feel strongly about educating people about lab-grown diamonds and why I believe they are a better option than mined diamonds — both from an environmental perspective and in terms of transparency. A big part of our mission is simply helping customers understand the choices available to them.
At the same time, I have very ambitious goals for KARAAT. We are building something that I believe can become a well-known European fine jewellery brand in the near future.
We are fortunate to work with exceptional goldsmiths whose craftsmanship and attention to detail are truly world-class. But at the centre of everything we do are our customers — their stories, their milestones, and the meaning they attach to the pieces they choose.
NM: What has been your proudest moment so far?
JH: There have been many meaningful milestones, but opening our first showroom in Helsinki was a particularly special moment.
KARAAT started from a very personal experience and an idea that felt almost intuitive at the time. Seeing that idea grow into a physical space where people come to celebrate important moments in their lives felt incredibly rewarding.
We see couples choosing engagement rings, families celebrating milestones, and customers marking achievements that are deeply personal to them. Being able to play even a small role in those moments is something I feel very grateful for.
NM: What piece of jewellery do you wear the most and why?
JH: The pieces I wear the most are my engagement ring and wedding band. I truly feel naked without them. They carry so much meaning and represent such an important moment in my life.
I also have a few KARAAT pieces that I wear regularly. One of my favourites is our Marquise Ellipse Ring, which I wear as a pinky ring on my right hand. I’ve always loved pinky rings, and this particular piece celebrates a milestone for me — the opening of our Helsinki showroom. I like how the gold develops character over time as it’s worn.
Diamond studs are also a staple in my jewellery collection. They’re something I wear almost every day. Recently I’ve been especially drawn to pear and marquise cuts — they feel feminine, but with a slightly unexpected edge.
NM: When you imagine KARAAT 20 years from now, what do you hope people say about it?
JH: I hope people say that KARAAT helped move the fine jewellery industry forward in a meaningful way.
That we showed it was possible to combine beauty, craftsmanship, and responsibility without compromise. That we helped make transparency and modern materials part of the conversation in luxury jewellery.
But beyond that, I hope people simply associate KARAAT with meaningful moments in their lives. If someone is still wearing a piece they bought twenty years earlier to celebrate an engagement, a personal milestone, or a moment of courage — and it still feels just as beautiful and relevant — then we will have achieved exactly what we set out to do.
