Beijing could be taking another step toward shedding its unwelcome reputation for smog and pollution—and creating innovative jewelry while doing it.
Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde’s “Smog Free Tower” has debuted in the Chinese capital. Using a positive ionization process, the air-cleaning tower captures tiny particles suspended in the air and filters them out. Since more than 40 percent of the collected pollution is carbon, he has struck on a novel innovation: using high pressure to convert the residue to diamonds, which can be sold as jewelry.