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【Incheon, Sou】Development of New Material with Diamond-Like Brilliance Gains Global Recognition, Leads to Company Incorporation [Heo Jin-seok’s Talk Startup]

Jul 11, 2026

Editor’s Note

**Editor’s Note:** This article highlights Mitfreude Co., Ltd., an Incheon-based startup that repurposes high-purity quartz glass waste from semiconductor manufacturing into luxury items like jewelry and optical lenses. After two years of development, the company introduces ‘Gentium,’ a sustainable material turning industrial byproducts into high-end products.

Startup Creates Jewelry from Semiconductor Waste Quartz Glass

Incheon = Reporter Heo Jin-seok
2026-07-11 01:44
At a knowledge industry center in Juan-dong, Michuhol-gu, Incheon, a startup is transforming discarded high-purity (99.9999%) quartz glass from semiconductor processes into high-end optical materials such as fashion accessories, jewelry, and optical lenses. Mitfreude Co., Ltd. has developed a new material called ‘Gentium’ after two years of R&D.

“We developed a new material called Gentium through over two years of research and development, and after receiving recognition of its value from global fashion brands, we incorporated the company in March of this year,” said CEO Kim Soo-kyung (43).

Opportunity Created by the Era of Ethical Consumption

Starting next year, the European Union will mandate Digital Product Passports (DPP) for fashion and jewelry, requiring QR codes to display origin, hazardous substance content (e.g., lead), carbon emissions, and recycled/recovered material content. This creates a significant challenge for traditional crystal products containing lead made from virgin resources. Mitfreude aims to replace this market with Gentium. The company also expects Gentium to serve as an alternative material in the lab-grown diamond market.

“If lab-grown diamonds continue to be produced in India and China relying on fossil fuel-based power grids, they could face significant carbon tax burdens due to high emissions,” Kim said. “The combination of Europe’s expanding Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and mandatory DPP is expected to create a great opportunity for Gentium.”

Swarovski, which dominated the crystal market, abruptly halted its annual 700 billion won B2B material supply two years ago as part of a brand maintenance strategy. Previously, it supplied crystals to about 5,000 fashion and jewelry companies including Prada, Armani, and Gucci.

“The gap left by this premium crystal brand has not been filled to this day,” Kim noted. “We have been the first to penetrate this market with Gentium, and we expect to supply global fashion companies soon.”

Two Layers of Technology Applied to Quartz Glass

김수경 미트프로이데 대표가 2일 인천 미추홀구 사무실에서 원통형으로 생긴 폐석영유리가 재결정화와 프라즈마코팅을 거쳐 다이아몬드와 비슷한 광채를 내는 젠티움 소재로 바뀌는 과정을 설명하고 있다. 젠티움은 유해물질인 납을 넣지 않고도 뛰어난 굴절률을 보여 보석처럼 빛난다. 순환자원으로 경제적 제조가 가능한 것도 잇점이다. 인천=허진석 기자 jameshur@donga.com

Quartz glass is an indispensable consumable in semiconductor manufacturing, used in nearly all processes where wafers are exposed to high temperatures and corrosive gases. When micro-cracks or surface damage occur, it is discarded—mostly landfilled or incinerated. Some is recycled into sparkling additives for asphalt, but very little is returned to its original use.
Mitfreude’s technology consists of two main stages. The first is remelting and molding technology. Director Lim Young-seok (CTO) explained:

“The quartz glass comes from different manufacturers and processes, so purity and impurity levels vary. Melting points differ, and compositions must be rebalanced. The key technology is creating sparkle without using lead, unlike traditional crystal.”

The company has eliminated hazardous heavy metals through its proprietary formulation. By adding trace elements, they suppress bubbles and cracking during melting, and precisely control temperature and viscosity to enhance process stability. The core technology lies in finding the optimal composition that balances strength and transparency.
The second stage is plasma coating technology. After remelting and molding, the base material is similar to ordinary crystal, but adding ion-bonding plasma deposition and optical design changes surface properties. This enhances light reflection and extraction efficiency, producing stronger brilliance and sparkle than conventional crystal.

“We have also secured technology that offers more than 10 times the durability and longevity compared to conventional coatings,” Lim said.

In Ray Tracing optical simulations, Gentium scored 94 points for Brilliance (brightness), 98 for Fire (light dispersion), and 97 for Sparkle (twinkle intensity).

“These results are close to the top-grade cut lab-grown diamond scores of 95, 100, and 100 under the same evaluation conditions,” Kim stated.

Unlike many crystal manufacturers including Swarovski that add lead to increase refractive index, Gentium achieves this through lead-free composition design and remelting processes.

“While Swarovski and other crystal companies make lead-free crystal, none produce it from recycled resources like we do. We also secure cost competitiveness, making the product more valuable,” Kim added.

The company plans to advance process technology by dividing Gentium into two tracks: aesthetic-focused jewelry and fashion accessories/trophies.

Company Founded After Confirming Global Demand

Mitfreude was co-founded by Kim Soo-kyung and Director Song Si-won (37), both with liberal arts backgrounds. Kim worked in NGO and startup support fields, while Song operated a jewelry brand for 15 years. They met at an entrepreneur meetup three years ago and decided to create jewelry from recycled resources. Unable to find a domestic company to melt quartz glass, Song emailed over 100 Chinese companies to secure a partner. Director Lim, with 14 years of experience at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and a National Skills Competition gold medal in casting, elevated process completion.
Notably, all technology development was funded personally by the two founders before incorporation.

“While working to support entrepreneurs, I saw too many good ideas disappear because they couldn’t find actual demand during commercialization,” Kim explained. “We set a principle not to incorporate until we secured real demand, and started the business accordingly.”

Before incorporation, Mitfreude aggressively emailed European luxury brand headquarters. Early this year, a renowned European fashion house advocating ethical luxury responded about Gentium samples:

“Amazing brilliance and overwhelming quality that meets our design standards.”

The company only incorporated after hearing that the fashion house’s design team plans to develop products using Gentium next year. Meetings with other global luxury houses are scheduled within the year.
Challenges remain. Discarded quartz glass is not yet recognized as a recycled resource, preventing bulk direct purchasing. The company has applied for a regulatory sandbox and aims to gain official recognition as soon as possible. The conservative jewelry market may also take time to accept Gentium as a new material.
Despite these hurdles, Mitfreude aims to enter the global market with fashion accessories this year and next, and advance technology to enter the jewelry market by 2028, establishing a new crystal market using recycled resources.

“Just as Corning expanded from glass into watches, automotive, medical, and energy sectors, Mitfreude will use Gentium to expand from fashion into jewelry, watch glass, optical lenses, and displays,” Kim concluded.

Incheon = Reporter Heo Jin-seok [email protected]

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⏰ Published on: July 11, 2026