The Natural Phenomenon of Ocean Diamond Jewellery
Introducing a collaboration between Alice Made This X Ocean Diamonds.
This new collection of gold and raw diamond necklaces, earrings and bracelets explores a beautiful and unique story of resilience, quality, responsibility, and nature.
Inspired by the immense voyage of an Ocean Diamond, Alice Made This draws on this journey to inspire and inform the collection. Each diamond has travelled over millennia from the earth’s mantle to the open ocean bed where we hand pick them and pair with solid gold, continuing the diamond’s journey from ocean to heirloom.
The Ocean Diamonds collection is a curation of 9ct gold necklaces, bracelets and earrings featuring raw and responsibly sourced diamonds ranging from 0.08 – 0.6 carats.
OCEAN DIAMONDS.
Based in Cornwall, Ocean Diamonds is a leading specialist in marine diamonds, working with skilled divers and expert artisans to consciously source and carefully certify one of nature’s most precious gifts – the diamond.
From seabed to surface, Ocean Diamonds believes in celebrating the power of the ocean in every stone, exploring the diamond’s wild and brilliant nature while providing an opportunity for the wearer to carry the ocean with them through their daily life.
These diamonds started their journey to the sea billions of years ago, carried by the rivers and eventually settling in the seabeds off the coasts of Namibia and South Africa where they are artfully uncovered by responsible diamond divers. It is this journey that has inspired this exciting new collaboration with precision jewellery brand Alice Made This.
THE JOURNEY.
The gold and diamond jewellery collection from Alice Made This X Ocean Diamonds, is inspired by the diamond’s journey from deep within the earth’s surface and into the waters of the flowing sea.
The diamonds spend millennia travelling via geotechnical movement from kimberlite pipes in the earth’s crust, down mountains, along rivers, through currents and into the shallows of the ocean waiting to be discovered and hand-picked by local divers.
Only the most resilient diamonds complete this journey, tumbling, turning, being placed and displaced through deposition and erosion, enduring a lengthy and continual cycle. This resilience is embodied in the stone’s beautiful clarity and unique finish that is clearly visible when freshly picked from the water. To create this collection, the stones have intentionally been left with their raw ocean-picked finish to celebrate this arduous journey and the wonder of nature in all its glory.
Rather than diamond mining, Ocean Diamonds wait until the diamonds have moved to the seabed where they are picked when the sea is calm, by local divers in small fishing boats. They gather aggregate from the seabed, filling less than a potato sack, before sieving to gather the diamonds and returning the remaining mineral to the seabed. These divers are the first to come in contact with these stones for millions of years.
A passion for the sea, a respect for the natural world and a community that is driven by the science of nature is at the heart of this collection.
THE JEWELLERY.
Beginning as mouldable wax, each individual piece is precisely weighed, rolled, cut and hand worked. The diamonds are then coarsely embedded into the wax, replicating the way in which they are wedged and gently caught in the sediment and nooks of the ocean bed. This action splays the wax to the shape of the raw diamond and encases it in a protective and organic way.
The shapes and forms of the collection echo the movement and travels of the diamond. For example, the meandering of the river is mirrored in the wrapping and holding of the diamond, whereas the oxygen bubbles of the divers are represented by voids made by splaying the wax outwards and capturing the diamond in the edge. The pip form, with the diamond pressed in its centre, is inspired by small pebbles and sand rolling along side by side with the diamonds on the journey to the ocean, and the circle and stick forms are marked by crafting tools to reflect an aerial view of waves flowing across the surface of the sea, a homage to the Benguela currents.
The forms of the Ocean Diamonds collection are organic and crude, working in harmony with the raw diamonds to symbolise the journey and immense story the stones have to tell - providing a tangible connection to the ocean and the surrounding natural world.
A WORD FROM ALICE.
"This collection has been close to my heart for so many reasons. I have wanted to introduce diamonds into our collection for some time, but never felt like I had found the right approach. I met Robert early last year and we were aligned on so many things. Our passion for engineering, for the science of nature, for transparency in business and for storytelling. The raw ocean diamonds are so beautiful. They have a clarity created because of their colossal journey. I love the idea that wearing these diamonds will carry a homage to nature and the sea in the form of an heirloom, which can then be passed down through generations… and with a wonderful story to tell." Alice Walsh, Founder, Alice Made This. Alice Made This works with engineers and artisans to layer the precision of engineering with the beauty of hand work, creating jewellery with a story to tell.
Photography: Jamie Ferguson, Ocean Diamonds, Alice Made This. Models: Marie Clavel, Olivia Chan, Ousman Jatta, Tarique Al-Shabazz. Hair & Makeup: Salina Thind.
With special thanks to Ocean Diamonds. www.oceandiamonds.com / @oceandiamonds_
