Fine diamond jewellery in South Africa, made to order

What “fine diamond jewellery” actually means

The phrase gets used loosely, so it is worth being precise, because the difference is in the materials and the making, not the marketing. Fine diamond jewellery is made from a precious metal, solid 18k gold or platinum, and set with genuine natural diamonds, by a person at a bench. It is intended to be worn for a lifetime, repaired rather than replaced, and revalued over time.

Fashion or costume jewellery is the opposite proposition: base metal with a thin plating, set with glass, cubic zirconia or other simulants, cast in volume and not built to be serviced. High-end jewellery sits at the top of the fine category, larger and finer stones, more demanding settings, more bench hours, but it is the same family.

Everything Prodiam makes is fine jewellery in that strict sense, and most of it is made one piece at a time.

Solid metal, hallmarks and real standards

A fine piece is only as good as the metal it is built in, so we work in solid 18k gold, white, yellow or rose, and in platinum, never plated or gold-filled metal. 18k gold is 75 per cent pure gold, the long-standing standard for fine jewellery because it holds rich colour while staying durable enough for daily wear.

Platinum is a denser, naturally white precious metal, heavier in the hand and prized for the security it gives claw and pave settings. The metal carries a hallmark stating its purity, so the buyer is not taking the maker’s word for it.

Review the natural diamonds proposed for your piece and the laboratory report for each graded centre stone. Small side diamonds are matched as part of the design; a separate grading report is not promised for every one. Confirm the stone specification, hallmark and written insurance valuation in the quote. Use the issuing laboratory to check a report number.

It is simply what fine jewellery is supposed to carry.

How your piece is made in Bedfordview

The design starts with your brief and the proposed diamonds. Some stones are cut at Procut DCW and others sourced through the certified trade. We agree the shape and proportions, match any side stones, then cast, set, finish and inspect the piece.

For earrings, compare the two stones together. For a tennis bracelet, discuss total diamond weight, the size of each stone, matching and the clasp. These choices affect both how the piece looks and its complete price.

Compare the complete jewellery quote

Judge a quote against the actual diamonds, metal, setting, finish, service and aftercare. Two pieces described as the same carat weight can differ substantially in diamond quality, the number of stones, metal weight and making.

Prodiam quotes for the proposed piece in writing, with VAT and delivery specified. A loose-diamond price is one part of that quote; it does not include the finished setting. Bring another written quotation if you want us to compare the specifications and explain the differences.

It is worth being clear about price, because we never quote a figure we cannot stand behind. A diamond’s rand price is built from the Rapaport list, less a trade discount, converted at the dollar-to-rand rate, plus 15 per cent VAT, and it climbs along a per-carat curve with steep premiums at the magic weights, the half-carat, the one-carat, the two-carat.

Because that base moves daily with the exchange rate, a true live figure belongs on a tool, not on a fixed page. So rather than print a number that goes stale, we route you to the live diamond search with fully-landed ZAR prices, and the direct-versus-retail comparison sets out exactly which layers we remove and why that lands in your favour.

The ProJewel range and one-off commissions

Two paths lead into our fine jewellery. The first is ProJewel, our own fine-jewellery range and the living record of recent bench commissions, the showpieces and the brief-from pieces, set with stones we polished in-house. The second, and the one most clients take, is a one-off commission built entirely to your brief.

Either way the work is yours to direct: you set the shape, the carat weight, the colour and clarity range, the design and the metal, and we cut or match the diamonds and make the piece.

A custom engagement ring built around a single hero stone, a tennis bracelet, a pair of matched studs, a riviere necklace, an inherited stone reset into something to wear again, all of it comes off one bench, in one custody, from rough to finished item.

Everything below routes into the specific pieces and services. Each links through to its own page, where the design choices, the stone grades and the process are set out in full.

• Diamond jewellery collections, browse the range Start here to see every diamond piece we make, from solitaire rings to tennis lines. This is the category hub; the page you are on is the made-to-order and commission route into it. →
• The ProJewel range Our in-house fine-jewellery range and recent bench commissions, the showpieces, the brief-from pieces, and proof of what one cutting house can make. →
• Bespoke & made-to-order How a one-off piece is designed and built around your brief, from a sketch, a reference photograph or an heirloom you want reset. →
• Custom engagement rings A bespoke engagement ring built around your chosen natural centre diamond, in a solitaire, halo, three-stone or hidden-halo setting. →
• Tennis bracelets The luxury line piece, every diamond matched for colour, clarity and cut so the bracelet reads as a single unbroken run of light. →
• Diamond necklaces Solitaire, station and riviere necklaces, the centre or line stones matched on the bench and set on your choice of metal and chain. →
• Diamond earrings Perfect-pair studs, halos and drops, the two centre stones matched into one colour and one clarity grade, the thing only a cutter can promise. →
• Diamond bracelets Bangle, station and line styles beyond the tennis bracelet, each stone matched in-house and supplied on a GIA or EGL report. →
• Collections Curated one-off and themed pieces from the workshop, each made to order in solid gold or platinum and priced on application. →
• Brief us, or book a viewing Tell us what the piece is for, or book an appointment in Bedfordview where GIA South Africa shares the building. Darren replies within 24 hours. →

If you would rather begin with the stone than the setting, you can search our live diamond inventory and see fully-landed ZAR prices on GIA-certified natural diamonds, then have us set the one you choose into a fine piece. Not sure where to start? Tell us what the piece is for and Darren will point you the right way within 24 hours.

Why buy diamond jewellery direct from the cutter

The case for the cutter over the counter, and over the branded boutique, comes down to four things, value, provenance, control and craft:

• Value built up, not marked up, you pay a wholesale-level stone price referenced to the Rapaport list, plus transparent metal and making, plus VAT, instead of a luxury ticket with a brand premium and showroom rent baked in.
• One custody, fully traceable, the same house buys the rough, cuts it and sets it, so the diamond never leaves a documented chain. The certificate and a written insurance valuation on request travel with the finished piece.
• Stones matched, not just bought, because we read and sort on our own bench, we can match a perfect pair of studs, or every stone along a tennis line, within one colour and one clarity grade. A retailer buying stones in rarely matches this closely.
• Solid metal and real standards, every piece is solid 18k gold or platinum, hallmarked for purity, hand-set and finished, never plated, filled or cast-and-imported as costume jewellery is.
• Natural only, GIA primary, Prodiam works in natural, mined-Earth diamonds, certified by GIA or EGL, with GIA the primary laboratory. We will advise fairly on lab-grown, but the natural stone is our craft.

Buying diamond jewellery from anywhere in South Africa

We are one studio, in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, but the client base is national. Buyers commission diamond jewellery across South Africa, and the distance changes nothing about the standard of the piece.

The brief and the stone-grade conversation happen by video and WhatsApp, you approve the diamond, the design and the metal, and the finished piece is delivered insured and overnight nationwide via Brink’s or G4S, with its certification and a written valuation included.

If you are in Johannesburg, or visiting, you are welcome to view and collect at our Bedfordview studio by appointment, in the building GIA South Africa shares, so the laboratory behind the certificates is, quite literally, next door.

Diamond jewellery in South Africa: common questions

Last reviewed: June 2026.