His office is a boat, his suit is made of neoprene, and instead of leather shoes he wears swim fins. For more than 20 years, he has been plunging into the cool waters of the South Atlantic almost every day to scour the sea floor for glittering treasure. His name is Wynand Hendrikse – a diamond diver from South Africa who lives and breathes his work.

With the explicit goal of sharing the fascinating journey of a diamond from the bottom of the sea to a sparkling item of jewelry with the world, he established Benguela Diamonds and made a special experience possible for the first time: you can join Wynand Hendrikse on a dive in South Africa to find your own rough diamond.

Port Nolloth, a small harbor town in the west of South Africa, is the perfect location for this enterprise. The Benguela Current flows past the coast of this dreamy little town, and it has deposited a large number of mineral stones and precious rough diamonds along underwater banks over millions of years. For years, Wynand Hendrikse has been searching these shallow waters for treasure, bringing new jewels to the surface every time.

Accompany Wynand Hendrikse during a day at work and look forward to a unique, adventurous experience. The South African offers more than two decades of experience and is fully passionate about diamond diving to this day. With his trained eye, he is able to scan the sea floor for shining stones. Learn from a specialist what you should look out for when trying to find rough diamonds: with Wynand Hendrikse at your side, you are guaranteed to discover a diamond.

Back on land, his love for the precious stones is no less ardent: he has run a small jewelry and diamond workshop in the heart of Stellenbosch with his wife since 2002. This is where all the rough diamonds Wynand Hendrikse fetches from the sea are cut, ground, and polished by his team until they are transformed into radiant gems. It takes only three days to turn a plain stone into a precious jewel.