In Australia, generally 3 to 5 days, depending on your location. Overseas, it takes around one to two weeks to obtain and complete KPC and Customs Clearance’s. Normal overseas postage times are from one week to ten days. Tracking and Insurance are part of all out posted parcels

Australian customers can place an order using online Shop. Payment is made by direct deposit to our bank account. Please enquire for details.

Within Australia, we use an Australia Post Express Satchel. For orders under $100.00 postage in $20.00. This includes insurance and signature on delivery. For orders valued at $100.00 or over, there is an additional charge for insurance, calculated at $2.50 for each $100 of purchase value. This is to a maximum value of $5000.00. For example: an order valued at $500 will cost $20 for satchel postage  and $10 for insurance. This amount is calculated  automatically during check out in the shop.

Overseas Packages we use Australia Post International Express service and pass on the actual costs.

We do our utmost to ensure a full and accurate description is given, and that the accompanying photograph is of the diamond or nugget is the best of our ability. As we are selling rough diamonds, we cannot describe every imperfection, since none of these diamonds are perfect. However, should you feel your purchase is not as described or as shown, we will refund all monies paid, so long as you notify us within seven days of receiving the diamond or nugget. The diamond or nugget must then be returned within seven days of receipt,  by registered and insured mail, with the return postage paid by you. We take no responsibility, if the item is not returned to us, by the above means. Please also see our Returns Policy under Terms of Use.

We are holders of a Australian Government Department of Industry Occasional Diamond Exporters Licence and have  been inspected  by this department.  Rough Diamond Import and Export is a strictly regulated industry around the world, to curb the trade in Conflict/Blood Diamonds. We request for the Mine of Origin to be on our Importing KPC and Invoices.

Yes, the purpose of cutting is to allow natural light in, which then reflects off the cut surfaces, enhancing the shine and brilliance. That’s why the cut is a very important factor when buying a polished stone. However each rough we sell has its own shine and lustre. They are certainly not dull!

No, with value of cut and polished Pink diamonds is growing every year, rough stones are extremely rare and expensive.

This is one advantage of buying roughs – it is your choice – versus buying a pre-set stone from a shop window. You may already have one or two jewellers in mind. If not, I would look for an individual designer or jeweller and check out their work via their web site or retail outlet. Also you need to feel comfortable with the designer because it is a joint project, and you’ll both have ideas. Good designers will have good ideas and know what’s possible.

ROUGH, is a diamond industry term for Mined Un-cut Diamonds.  However in recent times, diamonds grown in laboratories, are now very readily available. The reason is simple, compared to the costs of traditional mining of natural diamonds, the lab grown product are so mush cheaper to produce. Even De Beers now produce laboratory grown diamonds as well as their mined product. Jewellers should clearly mark the stones origin. When produced, lab-made stones don’t have the crystal shapes of real stones and are dull and lifeless blobs until cut and polished.  Putting it simply rough diamonds have crystal shape, natural lustre, colours and can be set direct into individual pieces of jewellery. All our roughs are mined natural diamonds and as you can see from our website photo’s our gem quality  stones are anything but ROUGH IN LOOKS.

Only around 30% of diamonds mined have good crystal shapes suitable for setting into jewellery. The rest have various faults, cracks, ill-formed shapes and lots of inclusions (black specks of non-diamond material). However, many of these can still be cut and polished and their faults simply removed. Diamonds that are not worth cutting are crushed and used for industrial drill bits, grinding disks etc. These days most of the world’s industrial diamonds are manufactured. Simply put, a very low quality rough diamond looks exactly as it sounds. It could be a hard black cokey mass with no distinct shape, bad colour, cracks and deep faults. The lowest classification used when sorting roughs is ‘boart’. They can look like black pieces of knobbly coal or coke. This will help you understand the difference in quality from the rough diamonds we market.

As a small company we only carry a small selection, Argyles Browns from light Champagne to Dark Cognac. Capes from Ellendale (slightly Yellow) and South African Whites (check the Product page).

In general many colours, including Pink, Red, Black , Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange, Brown, and of course the white/colourless diamonds. The different colours are a result of different gasses present when formed, molecular impurities or imperfections. The blue diamonds are a result of small traces of Boron in the diamond. The browns which are the most common of all the colours along with the pink, red and purple diamonds are a result of “plastic deformation” due to huge pressures and temperatures causing dislocation of atoms etc. After this you are on your own, it gets very technical, check Google.

Most people say they look like broken windscreen glass – and some do. It all depends on the quality. We have selected rough stones with distinct crystal forms: mostly octahedrons and their derivatives – dodecahedrons, hexoctahedrons, tetrahexahedrons – and the flat triangular macles.

Two ways of looking at this: firstly you might see a stone and say, “Yes that’s the one for me!!” Next you’ll need to come up with a design that suits the stone. The other way is to put the design and setting first. For example, if you want a ring certain shapes are more suitable than others. It’s a bit like buying artwork!!

Argyle diamonds,  once cleaned and sized get sent direct to Antwerp for classing and sorting prior to sale on the world market. Ellendale have a slightly different method but with the same result.

Unfortunately, there are no producing diamonds mines operating in Australia at present. Argyle closed in November 2020, after 35 years of operation. Ellendale closed in 2015.

The simple answer is diamonds are formed in the earth’s mantle at depths of more than 140 kms. It’s understood that immense pressure and temperature cause fluids that are carbon rich to crystallize. It then takes deep volcanic action to bring the magma containing diamonds to the earth’s surface. Interestingly the diamonds found in Australia are found in Lamproite material and in South Africa in Kimberlite material.

Any faults or inclusions in a rough are there for life, unlike the cutting and polished diamonds, were the major faults and inclusions are/can be cut out. However this is now considered a positive with perfect gem quality diamonds now being produced in laboratory conditions. So inclusions and small faults (preferably not seen with the eye) are now becoming accepted as proof the diamond is of natural origin