LONDON — Lauryn Hill’s buttery yellow outfit was a perfect fit for her gold jewelry at the 2025 Met Gala.

The musician wore pieces from Emefa Cole, a London-based Ghanaian jewelry designer. Her pieces are often inspired by the African diaspora and nature with all the raw materials being traceable.

Hill’s earrings and necklace designs referenced calabash gourds, a significant symbol in west African culture.

Cole’s label uses Single Mine Origin, otherwise known as SMO, which traces gold back to its provenance for consumers and brands to take full responsibility of where their metals are coming from rather than relying on recycled gold, the origin of which cannot be traced.

According to SMO, only 4 percent of the world’s gold supply is traceable from mine to the final polished product.

The gold from Cole’s brand comes from the Ity mine in Côte d’Ivoire.

“In my opinion, it’s vital for my work to include traceability of the source of the materials. When you read up about jewelry, whether it’s what’s happening now or in the past, the story is mainly always about the designer. So many people who are a part of the making actually get forgotten about. But for me, without the miners of the gold or silver or gemstones, and the people who cut the gemstones, I can’t really create,” the designer told WWD in 2022.

She added that she started using SMO because she believes that it comes with much more substance compared to the usual sustainable option, recycled gold.

Whenever a customer buys a piece of Cole’s jewelry made with single-mine origin gold, it comes with a little card that has a QR code on it, which carries all the information that’s available on that particular source of gold.