South African Culture: Diamonds

Diamonds are global style setters

Jenny Blair Hunter

Diamonds are the most popular precious stones in South Africa and are a very good investment. Pale pastel stones like aquamarine, blue topaz or pink sapphires are very popular.

Today's look is understated and is one of simplicity, like a pair of diamond studs or a single diamond on a pendant. There's an Italian influence in many designs, as Italy dictates the jewellery trends for the rest of the world.

De Beers estimates that over 50 million pieces of diamond jewellry are purchased annually.

Buying a Diamond

A diamond has unique powers of reflection. When cut to proper proportions, It gathers light and reflects it back in a shower of brilliance. A solitaire diamond must be colour-rated, have a clarity rating, and have a diamond certificate as an assurance of quality.

Diamonds are inspected and graded for colour, cut, clarity and carat weight, which are known as the four C's. A diamond's quality depends on a combination of all four. However the cut of the diamond determines the brilliance and overall beauty of your diamond.

Remember each diamond is unique and all the critical qualities, the four C's, must be certified in writing.

Diamond.

Caring for South African Diamonds

Take your diamonds to a professional jeweller for periodic maintenance. Trained artisans will check that the setting is securing any diamonds in your jewellery, and will give your jewellery a thorough cleaning.

In between these visits use a non-abrasive cleaner for diamond jewellery. Or mix a mild solution of six parts water to one part ammonia, and apply it with a soft, bristle brush. Jewellery with stones in it other than diamonds, may need special care – get advice from a reputable jeweller.

Keep your jewellery wrapped in a protective box, a case or a tarnish resistant pouch. Place the diamonds back in its original box after wearing it.

There are numerous reputable South African jewellers, and a South African Diamond Board and Metal Regulator, to regulate control over possession, the purchase, and sale of diamonds, the processing and the export of diamonds.

History of Diamonds in South Africa

Commercial diamond exploitation began in South Africa in the so-called "Diamond Fields" in 1860s. In 1866, a 15-year-old youth found a sizeable 21.25-carat diamond on the banks of the Orange River near Hopetown. A huge 83.5-carat diamond (The Star of South Africa) was acquired by another Hopewell resident Schalk van Niekerk five years later. Prospectors flooded into the Northern Cape area from other parts of South Africa and the rest of the world as diggings became centered around the town of Kimberley.

The two main mines - the Kimberley Mine (Big Hole) and the De Beers Mine - were owned by the two major diamond entrepreneurs of the age: Barney Barnato and Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes eventually bought out Barnato for the then vast sum of £5 million in 1888 to form De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd - still the largest diamond concern in the world. De Beers and its related companies own mines that produce 40% of the annual world diamond production and up to the end of the 20th century 80% of the world's rough diamonds passed through De Beers.

Besides Kimberley, other important diamond mining areas in South Africa were Lichtenburg in North West Province and Springbok and Port Nolloth in the Namaqualand (Namakwa) area.

South Africa has been overtaken by other countries as a centre of diamond production with large commercial sources in Russia, Canada, Angola, Botswana and Congo.

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