In the heart of Cape Town’s Central Business District, modern office buildings rise above palm trees.
While some buildings proudly sport logos of worldwide brands, others are left unmarked, hinting at secrets inside.
That’s why I’m here.
South Africa is one of the world’s most prominent diamond exporters. On a recent trip to the country, I took time to learn more about how diamonds move from Africa to our showroom thousands of miles away.
Sorting Rough Diamonds
I grew up in the jewelry industry, now serving as the third-generation of Hingham Jewelers ownership.
I’m meeting with Martin who, like me, grew up around jewelry, and is now back in the industry after first spending time in another professional field.
He first shows me his collection of rough diamonds. To the untrained eye, many look simply like pebbles.
These rough diamonds come from areas across South Africa. Many come from mines near Kimberley, the city after which the Kimberly Process is named. The Kimberley Process, you may remember, is the United Nations agreement written to prevent “blood diamonds” from entering the marketplace.
Martin says other rough diamonds actually come from offshore deposits. Technology has improved to the point where large ships can scan the sea floor for diamond deposits, extracting them without the need for much human labor. Those offshore diamonds mostly come from South Africa’s west coast, near the mouth of the Orange River. Over centuries diamonds traveled in that river, eventually being deposited in the ocean.
Plotting the Diamond
The first step to turning each rough diamond into a beautiful gem is plotting out natural imperfections. To do this, the rough diamond is put into a sophisticated box for scanning. Once inside, a computer rendering is generated, revealing where flaws are located.
Then, using that computer software, each rough diamond can be analyzed and optimized. It’s during this stage where experts will decide what shape the finished diamond will have—a round, oval, or heart shaped, for example.
Experts will select the shape that allows them to limit diamond waste, and create the most desirable stone possible.
The rough diamond we’re reviewing here weighs 1.04 ct. After plotting flaws, and optimizing the shape, the final stone will be an oval diamond weighing a little under a carat.
You can see the rough outline of its final shape here.
Cutting the Diamond
As the hardest naturally occurring substance on earth, cutting a diamond is quite challenging. Here, the diamonds are cut by hand.
It’s up to this craftsman to take the ideal proportions mapped out by the computer and bring the diamond to life.
Over the course of 5-15 days, he’ll meticulously cut and polish the diamond, using specialized tools.
A slight error during the process, changing the angles of facets in the stone, can be devastating.
Diamonds sparkle because of the way light travels through the stone, which is directly related to those angles. So an angle that’s too great, or too small, can prevent light from hitting your eye as sparkle.
Grading the Diamond
The final step is assessing the diamond’s characteristics. The diamonds cut here in Cape Town are sent to the Gemological Institute of America office in Johannesburg. The GIA, the industry’s highest regarded third-party gem lab, will then grade each stone. This third-party assessment adds extra confidence for consumers, ensuring they know exactly what type of diamond they are buying.
From South Africa to the South Shore
Once these diamonds are cut and graded, they are exported to us at Hingham Jewelers. The vast majority of the diamonds we sell for engagement rings come from southern Africa, including from countries like South Africa.
We hand-select the diamonds that we offer in our collection, looking for stones not just of excellent quality, but also of excellent value. Beyond the selection of diamonds for our on-hand collection, which changes regularly, we of course always source diamonds for specific clients, gathering stones of a specific size, quality, or price range.
If you are looking for a diamond, make an appointment to meet with one of our specialists. We’d love to guide you through the selection process.
-Michael