© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

Just after I launched this website, I was contacted directly by a customer who had previously been looking forward to working with me on her diamond recut. She was thrilled to have found me by typing 'Brian the Cutter' into the Google Search feature. After a couple of phone discussions and e-mails, she decided to send in her diamond for evaluation.

Her original diamond was a typical "steep/deep" round brilliant with large extra facets and deep naturals on the girdle. I evaluated it to see how I could improve its performance - brilliance, scintillation and fire – while retaining as much carat weight as possible. With my years of experience, I was able to calculate the best possible outcome. We were able to remove and reduce 99% of the naturals, attain an AGS0 for Light performance and Polish and improve the Cut grade from an AGS7 to an AGS1*.

*There were remnants of one natural which we could not remove without taking the carat weight under the magical 2 carat mark, which rendered the symmetry an AGS1 and the overall cut grade an AGS1. To round out the process, our customer decided to have the AGS Diamond Quality Document number laser inscribed on the girdle of her 'new' diamond.

We custom made a new 6 prong platinum head for her ring, with finer, more clawlike prongs (the old one was die struck and heavier), tightened up all the diamond melee in the shank and polished the ring to perfection! In the words of its owner "Sounds like the old girl will be all dressed up and ready to PARTY!!"

© 2009 – 2010, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

"Dreams of Africa^* is beautiful, and Brian's idea is wonderful and refreshing." Marjorie Andrade, UN Goodwill Ambassador, Brazil.

In 2006, interest in the origin of diamonds was fueled by the new Hollywood movie, "Blood Diamonds" which denounced the illicit practices of the diamond industry. In 2006, I went back to South Africa twice to visit my terminally ill mother, Femma, with whom I had an extremely close relationship and who passed away in September 2006.

My late mother Femma with my father Ben, 8 months before her passing.

She was an internationally renowned artist, had a deep connection with the land and had a particular flair for incorporating "all things African" into her work. During the first visit we discussed the whole concept of how the people of Africa have suffered through the civil wars, many of which have been funded by the trading of illicit raw materials, whether it is wood from forests, rough diamonds and even humans at times.

My mother inspired me to come up with a jewelry design that would reflect the whole essence of Africa and what was happening in Africa regarding the illicit diamond trade.

"Dreams of Africa"^TM * was born. The pendant's sparkling conflict-free A Cut Above diamonds symbolize innocence. The bold sapphires symbolize truth. The beautiful center stones represent mother Africa, and the sweeping spirals portray the dream of expanding awareness of the plight. The pieces were artfully hand crafted and finished by Frieder, a talented designer/jeweler, my good friend and colleague for over ten years..

During this process, we discussed that another way of getting the message out was through music. I tapped into my lifelong contacts and got in touch with Cedric Samson, a two time Grammy nominee and a man who I have known since I was a young boy. We worked closely with him and he wrote and produced a beautiful song in Cape Town, South Africa, which featured an African children's choir who had never sung professionally before.

My late mother was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1935, and with the creation of this song I personally felt like I had come full circle and created something in her honor. For $1 the song is available for purchase as a download and all proceeds of the sale of the song are donated to a worthy cause.

Most people are unaware of the role diamonds play in bringing real benefits to people in the countries around the world where diamonds are sourced. Nowhere is this more evident than in Africa. It is also in Africa that this same resource has been used to fund conflict. The diamond industry maintains it has safeguards to guarantee most rough diamonds come from areas free of violent conflict through the Kimberley Process, a tracking system implemented in 2003. The World Diamond Council, which represents producers and dealers, stresses that more than 99 percent of diamonds now come from conflict-free sources, and that diamond revenue today is mostly used in African countries for health care, education and other benefits.

*Dreams of Africa^TM is a registered trademark of Whiteflash.com, Inc

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© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

Brian Gavin and Martin Rapaport discuss Conflict Diamonds.

The JCK Jewelry Show in Las Vegas, the industry’s annual premier buying event, takes place over the first weekend of June every year.

On the Monday morning of the show, Martin Rapaport, delivers his “State of the Industry” address to a standing room only crowd.   On Monday, June 5, 2006, Martin Rapaport addressed an international audience on the plight of artisanal diamond miners in Africa. Rapaport's JCK proposal centered on the diamond industry using economic purchasing power to create market forces which can drive out exploitation and poverty in Africa's poorest countries.

Beyond what the protectionist work Kimberly Process, the USA Patriot Act and the Council for Responsible Jewelry Practices are doing, he discussed whether the information age presented an opportunity to work toward more people-centered solutions.

Being born and raised in South Africa and having traveled extensively in the war torn areas of the African continent, Brian Gavin was in a unique position to add his comments resulting in a passionate and animated discussion.

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.

© 2009, Brian Gavin. All rights reserved. Including all photographs, written word and video, but not limited to unless noted.