It took three billion years for diamonds to reach the west coast of Southern Africa. Formed deep inside the earth's mantle, volcanic action brought them to the surface, where rivers gradually washed them across the continent. They reached the coast only to be buried again by wave borne sediment, and here they remained while humans evolved and developed a keenness for things that sparkle.

In a period spanning less than a century after their discovery in 1925, towns were established to service the mines, fences strung to keep the public out, and diamond deposits aggressively mined to depletion. Following the downscaling of mining operations in 2011, the towns lifted their booms and opened to the public, their unveiling coinciding with the unsettled decline of the region.