In natural diamonds, a little piece of home

The diamond is one of the hardest natural materials on Earth. It makes sense when you wonder how something so durable is also the keeper of our most fragile memories. When people move countries, they leave behind homes, neighbourhoods, familiar routines, and family traditions. What often travels with them, however, is a handful of deeply personal objects that help bridge the distance. I once packed my bags, said my goodbyes, and boarded a one-way flight to Vancouver to complete my undergraduate studies. The only thing I had to hold on to during that 24-hour journey was my natural diamond Asho Farohar pendant—a primary sacred symbol of Zoroastrianism—given to me by my parents on my 18th birthday.

Five years later, conversations around diamonds look very different. Online, diamonds have become a debate about cost, resale value, and sustainability. What rarely gets discussed is their power to hold memory. Unlike other objects, jewellery travels with us physically on our bodies, becoming part of our routines, and bears witness to our everyday lives. The longer they’re worn, the more personal history they gather. I spoke to women who moved abroad for work or study to ask them about the natural diamond pieces they took with them—and how they helped make the distance from home feel a little smaller.

For the past six years, Sanjana Sethi has split her time between Mumbai and New York, where she is now completing her Master’s degree in Psychology at Northwestern University. The one piece of jewellery she never takes off is a delicate gold band lined with a row of square-cut diamonds that once belonged to her grandmother. But moving abroad transformed what it meant to her: a cherished heirloom became a physical connection to her first home. “The band on my finger can instantly transport me back to Christmas mornings at my grandparents’ house in Delhi. Sometimes, something as simple as washing my hands reminds me of my nani wiping milk from my face with her hand when I was little. Whenever I miss home, I find myself holding the ring. It’s a reminder that no matter where I am in the world, I always have my family backing me,” she says.

Adya Rajpal grew up being told she was a “carbon copy” of her grandmother. Originally from Delhi and currently living in New York, where she works as an investment banking analyst, Rajpal wears a pair of diamond stud earrings passed down from her grandmother, first to her mother and, eventually, to her. After her grandmother passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic, the earrings took on an even deeper meaning. Wearing them each day became a way of keeping her grandmother close. “It feels like a part of her is with me every single day. Whenever I wear them, it’s almost like she’s still here with me, guiding me through life,” she says. One day, she hopes to pass the earrings to her own daughter, continuing a story that has already lived on for three generations.

Los Angeles-based financial analyst Saachi Jain realised just how attached she had become to the jewellery when she lost one of her earrings. Jain first moved to the US from Mumbai for her undergraduate degree with a diamond choker and matching drop earrings packed among her belongings—a gift given to her by her mother before she left. The set became her ‘special occasion’ jewellery that she reached for during milestones in college and now her career. With the cost of living in the city and soaring metal prices, buying fine jewellery isn’t something she sees herself doing anytime soon. “I would have never splurged on something like this so early on in my career, so it meant so much to have one nice thing that I could put on and feel dressed up,” Jain says. When she lost one of the earrings, she was devastated because it meant more to her than she’d imagined. “I cried for days, because when you’re 24 hours away from home, having something so precious with me made me feel connected to my family,” she recalls. 

These narratives go on to show that a diamond’s value isn’t measured in just carats or cost. I think back to being 19 years old, alone in a new city with the only piece of home I had hanging around my neck and finding comfort knowing the same Asho Farohar was around my parents’ and brother’s necks. For Sethi, Rajpal, and Jain, a ring, earrings, and necklace set have come to do something similar. Their value is in the people, places, and memories they allow wearers to carry with them.