"First on a red carpet" is the most over-claimed first in this category, partly because "major red carpet" can mean whatever a press release needs it to mean. This page lists every placement this record can source, across brands, in date order. Where a claim rests only on a brand's own statement it says so.
26 February 2017: Atelier Swarovski at the 89th Oscars
The earliest sourced appearance. National Jeweler reported in advance that Swarovski would debut a line combining its crystals with lab-grown diamonds at the Oscars under the Atelier Swarovski umbrella, as part of Suzy Amis Cameron's Red Carpet Green Dress initiative 1. JCK's post-ceremony report named the wearers: Emma Roberts in Mosaic earrings and ring, Priyanka Bose in Concentric earrings and a Duchess ring, the stones described as lab-created with "the same optical, chemical, and physical attributes as mined diamonds" 2.
This was a corporate capsule from a crystal company rather than a lab-grown jewellery brand, and it was not widely reported at the time as a category milestone. But the date is clear, and any later "first on a major red carpet" claim has to be read against it.
8 May 2018: Penélope Cruz at Cannes
On the opening night of the 71st Cannes Film Festival, Penélope Cruz wore earrings and a ring from her Atelier Swarovski collection in fair-trade white gold set with lab-created diamonds and rubies 3. Same festival, same month as Lark & Berry's Cannes debut; a different kind of placement, because it was the star's own collaboration.
10 December 2018: Jourdan Dunn at the Fashion Awards (brand claim)
Lark & Berry's 2020 retrospective states that Jourdan Dunn wore the brand at the Fashion Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in December 2018 and describes it as "the first time cultured diamonds have been worn on a major red carpet event" 5. No independent contemporaneous report of the jewellery has been located, and the Swarovski placements above predate it. The accurate statement is narrower: the first sourced appearance of a brand founded exclusively on lab-grown diamonds at a major awards red carpet, on the brand's own account.
6 May 2019: Regina King and Lana Condor at the Met Gala
Better documented. A PR Newswire release of 7 May 2019, headlined as the "first cultured diamonds worn at a Met Gala", recorded Regina King in ten Lark & Berry pieces from the Veto, Nocturnal and Dune collections, styled by Wayman + Micah, and Lana Condor in platinum Bow earrings of 2.5 carats, styled by Jessica Paster 6. This is a brand release, labelled as such, but it is specific, dated and names the stylists, and no earlier lab-grown Met Gala placement has surfaced.
9 June 2019: the Tony Awards
At the 73rd Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, Jane Krakowski wore Lark & Berry's long tennis earrings and Julia Corden the Wave necklace and Veto sapphire double ring, as reported by LA-Story with stylists named 7. The brand also lists Janet McTeer that evening 5. Two months later the Daily Front Row described Lark & Berry as "the first designer luxury jewelry brand in the world to exclusively use cultured diamonds" 8.
January 2020: Golden Globes week
Lark & Berry's own post records five placements across Golden Globes week 2020. Only two were at the ceremony itself: Da'Vine Joy Randolph in Flora emerald drops, and Erin Lim on the red-carpet pre-show. The other three, Sydney Sweeney, Marin Hinkle and Anika Noni Rose, were at Globes-week parties and teas 9. That distinction is the brand's own and it is repeated here rather than flattened into "five celebrities at the Golden Globes".
9 February 2020: Billy Porter's Supernova at the 92nd Oscars
The most widely reported placement. Billy Porter opened the ceremony wearing Lark & Berry's Supernova collar, set with more than 500 lab-grown diamonds totalling around 64.5 carats, made in collaboration with Diamond Foundry. The Jewellery Editor covered it two days later 10; FASHION Magazine reported the necklace was lab-grown 11; Professional Jeweller reported it would be reworked into a 39-piece collection 12. Julia Butters also wore the brand that night 5. This is the first sourced instance of a statement lab-grown piece at the Oscars from a brand founded on lab-grown.
The sequence
| Date | Event | Wearer | Brand | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Feb 2017 | 89th Oscars | Emma Roberts, Priyanka Bose | Atelier Swarovski (created diamonds) | Trade press 2 |
| 8 May 2018 | Cannes opening night | Penélope Cruz | Atelier Swarovski × Cruz | Press 3 |
| 10 Dec 2018 | Fashion Awards, London | Jourdan Dunn | Lark & Berry | Brand claim 5 |
| 6 May 2019 | Met Gala | Regina King, Lana Condor | Lark & Berry | Brand release, stylists named 6 |
| 9 Jun 2019 | 73rd Tonys | Jane Krakowski, Julia Corden, Janet McTeer | Lark & Berry | Press 7 |
| 5 Jan 2020 | 77th Golden Globes | Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Erin Lim (ceremony); three at Globes-week events | Lark & Berry | Brand post 9 |
| 9 Feb 2020 | 92nd Oscars | Billy Porter, Julia Butters | Lark & Berry × Diamond Foundry | Press 10 11 |
What cannot be sourced
Claims this record has dropped for lack of evidence: Regina King wearing lab-grown at the Oscars (her placement was the Met Gala); a Marie Claire quote calling Lark & Berry a "pioneer of sustainability on the red carpet"; Joy Crookes at the Brits 2020; and Leonardo DiCaprio wearing Diamond Foundry stones, as opposed to investing in the company 4. If a contemporaneous source for any of these emerges, the entry will be added.