A jewellery collection made from ocean-sourced diamonds

The collection includes hoop earrings, a charm necklace and rings, all featuring responsibility-sourced diamonds

Spotted:  Los Angeles-based jewellery designer Baylee Zwart has developed a line of jewellery consisting of diamonds responsibly sourced from the ocean. 

Ocean diamonds are formed like any other diamond — billions of years ago by the earth — but through rivers, have slowly made their way down from mountains until they reach the seabed. Unlike mined diamonds, ocean diamonds are discovered by local diamond divers, who find them in underwater caves and hidden in the sea bed off the shores of Namibia and South Africa. The diamonds are also shaped locally to ensure they don’t get confused with mined diamonds. This makes the supply chain very transparent. 

The collection was launched in line with World Ocean Day, which happened on Tuesday 8th June, and which we covered at Springwise. The project is a joining of forces between Zwart’s Āzlee jewellery and sustainably sourced ocean diamond supplier, Ocean Diamonds. 

Traceability is Ocean Diamonds’s big redeeming qualities. Goodden’s team employs a small group of Namibian divers who go out on small dive boats to look for diamonds. The process is carefully documented: “We know who found each diamond, where and when they found it, which boat they were on, what the weather was like that day,” Ocean diamond founder, Robert Goodden, told Wallpaper. 

As for the design, futility is embodied to capture the movement of the ocean, with brushed satin finishes to reflect its textured spray. Zwart said she wanted the diamonds to be submerged into the pieces as if they were being encapsulated by waves. Thus, the diamonds find themselves riding the crest of a recycled gold wave or centred in the middle of curving swells and dolphins. 

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