For those that know me well,  or have read the about page on this website, you'll know that I studied Ocean Science at the University of Plymouth many years ago. My love and fascination of the sea is always with me, a constant pull, much like the tides. 

In my ongoing sourcing of ethical gemstones, you can imagine my delight when I came across a company called Ocean Diamonds. 

Let me introduce them:

Ocean Diamonds

Ocean diamonds are diamonds that have journeyed to the sea from their original kimberlite source, formed billions of years ago, via geological erosive action over millions of years travelling with the flow of rivers before eventually settling on the ocean floor.  This long process of moving from rock to sea tended to filter out the poorer quality crystals so that those that are now discovered in the coastal areas are extremely good quality diamonds. 

I’m excited that we’re able to offer beautiful Ocean Diamonds  as both raw uncut diamonds and cut diamonds which are cut in Johannesburg, South Africa, for bespoke and custom pieces of jewellery.

These Ocean Diamonds are retrieved from the ocean by professional diamond divers off the West Coast of South Africa. Each diamond has a Certificate of Provenance specifying the country of origin and the coastal location from where it has been retrieved.  

Comparable to inshore fishing, the boats are small and they dive close to the shoreline..  The divers must wait for calm conditions in order that the visibility is clear and the seabed settled.  This only occurs a few times a month which contributes to the sustainability of the process.   

Much of the equipment on the boats is made by local people. The divers have extensive knowledge of the ocean and can avoid unnecessary disturbance to the seabed, bringing the diamonds to the surface with minimal trace. They work in select areas of shallow water and in the surf zone. 

The divers push the diamond bearing gravel into the opening of a hose by hand, the hose then transports the gravel on board the boat, The hose is used exclusively as a transportation method and is not used as an excavation method.  They do not ‘hoover’ or ‘suck up’ the seabed with the hose.

Because the divers work in the surf zone, which on most days (excluding the calm diving days) is a very rough and volatile area where the waves constantly churn up the seabed. Therefore any movement made by the divers is shifted by nature again soon after so that their presence quickly become indiscernible.

Diamond diving is a low-impact method of retrieval with minimal disturbance and minimal legacy left by the divers.  There is no digging, explosives or trawling of the seabed.

For more information about Ocean Diamonds https://oceandiamonds.com/

If you’d like to use Ocean Diamonds in your next piece of jewellery please get in touch on our contact page and I'll work with you to create a beautiful piece of jewellery just for you.