I loved the long, ovoid, striped shape and the gnarled surface of the cocoa pod when I first saw them growing in Chuao, Venezuela sometime around 1983. Although arguably the Chuao cocoa is the best in the world, it was Mayans in Mexico who prized it, and the Spanish who brought it to Europe. I love chocolate, so I made a golden cocoa pod, and filled one half with my jewelled beans and the other, I left empty.

One of the most renowned and romantic stones of all, the diamond has a rich and sparkling history. A symbol of eternal love famed since ancient Greece, etymology denotes that the word diamond comes from the Greek 'Adamas' meaning unconquerable, and so it is, as the hardest of all gemstones.

The birthstone for April, these jewels are believed to increase energy, detoxify the body from impurities, and bring you inner courage. In shades varying from colourless, pale yellow to green, red, pink and blue, diamonds are found in lots of colours across South Africa, Australia, as well as Namibia, Russia and China. The most prized, pure diamonds are colourless and all are composed entirely of carbon.

They are graded by the 4 C's, carat weight, colour, clarity and cut. Diamonds are faceted to display a unique combination of this adamantine lustre and fire, displaying a higher degree of dispersion than any other natural colourless gemstone. A high degree of skill is required to ensure precision, proportion, and precise facet edges, as well as sharp scintillation. A popular cut is round brilliant, with 57 well-proportioned facets to show off the optical effects of brilliance and dispersion, but there are other cuts including square, pear, marquise and oval.