Since 2018, the school we support in Zambia has continued to grow, with the number of pupils in total increasing from 382 to 668. Last year, the children at Chitili School achieved remarkable progress, with 80% passing their 2024 national exams and stepping closer to the brighter futures they dream of.

Our donations continue to provide books, stationery, and computers, helping to build a small library and giving every child the tools to learn, imagine, and grow.

At the same time, the school is now taking important steps forward. In Zambia, school uniforms are mandatory, but many families cannot afford them. Through our ongoing support, more children, both girls and boys, are now receiving their own uniforms and, with them, the opportunity to attend school. It is our vision that every pupil at Chitili School will one day have their own.

Our current donations also go towards expanding the school with new classrooms for higher grades. Today, Chitili School only goes up to 7th grade, which means that pupils must travel to schools in larger towns, far from home. For many girls, this sadly leads to early pregnancies and lost educational opportunities.

By supporting the expansion, we help ensure that children can continue their education within their own community, close to their families and in a safe environment. Construction is already underway, with members of the community working together to lay the foundation for the new building and for a brighter future.

For every piece of jewellery we sell, a donation goes directly to the children at Chitili School. Each small contribution helps light the path forward, turning hope into opportunity and dreams into reality.

Read more about our little school project

In May 2024, our founder and designer Maya Bjørnsten travelled to Namibia, a journey to the very heart of some of the most beautiful natural gem quality rough diamonds.

She visited Namdeb Diamond Corporation, a 50/50 partnership between the Namibian Government and De Beers, where both onshore and offshore mining along the country’s wild southwest coast carefully retrieves alluvial rough diamonds that have travelled through nature for millions of years. The heart of Namdeb’s operations lies around Oranjemund, with additional activity near Lüderitz and along the Orange River. Over the years, Namdeb has transformed Namibia’s most inaccessible diamond resources into lasting value that benefits local communities, while also placing great focus on restoring the natural landscape once mining is complete. Areas are rehabilitated and returned to nature, reflecting a deep respect for both the land and the people who depend on it.

At the Namibian Diamond Trading Centre (NDTC) in Windhoek, Maya witnessed the meticulous sorting and valuation of Namibia’s natural rough diamonds, where each stone is examined for its unique shape, colour, and character. She even held 10,000 carats of these raw treasures in her hands. Around 95–98% of the diamonds mined along this coast are of gem quality, having survived an extraordinary journey over millions of years. Formed deep within the earth in what is now South Africa or Botswana, they were carried northward by rivers such as the Orange River, eventually settling in the sands along Namibia’s coastline as alluvial deposits, where they are now carefully retrieved.

During their travels, the group visited several mines across the region. Among others, Maya and the group were guided by geologist Andreas to a small demantoid garnet deposit in Namibia, where she personally struck a brilliant demantoid garnet free from its host rock. It was a small, sparkling reminder of nature’s quiet magic and the deep respect owed to the earth’s raw creations.

Maya’s journey was one of inspiration, gratitude, and wonder. It was a truly special opportunity to gain access to both Namdeb and NDTC, made possible only through Maya’s and the group’s professional background and deep expertise within the diamond industry.

In our boutique, you can discover jewellery featuring natural rough diamonds from Namibia, each piece carrying the beauty of its origin. Maya has also created two beautiful books about her journey, which you are warmly welcome to explore and hear more about when visiting our hidden boutique.

Our rose wall keeps growing, each rose symbolising a unique piece of jewellery created for love, whether for someone special or for yourself. 

What began as a few stems has blossomed into a living wall of memories, each bloom telling its own story. 

Visit our Hidden Boutique at Bredgade 56 to see it in full bloom and perhaps add your own rose to the wall.

What a wonderful celebration!

Our anniversary evening on September 24th 2024 was filled with joy, sunshine, bubbles, and smooth jazz by Fini Broadbery & band. Surrounded by wonderful company, laughter, and love, the night truly sparkled. Moments like these remind us why we do what we do - and make it all worth it. 

Here’s to many more years of rough diamonds and love it like it is ♥️

TIME IS PRECIOUS,
SO LET’S CELEBRATE IT.

Through 2019-2022, the Maya Bjørnsten Foundation and Roughdiamonds.dk remains committed to supporting a small primary school in the village of Chisanza in northeastern Zambia.

Most recently, donations have gone towards the purchase of a television and computers for the school. We continue to fund ongoing purchases of school materials, and the payment of extra teachers.

From next to nothing – just a square of bare walls – the school has undergone a transformation into a fully furnished building where students get an education that will help them in life. Education is key – and right now, a six months art class is unfolding to stimulate learning through creativity. 

Read more about our lovely School Project

Our Roughdiamonds.dk family has grown with three women, who are our new in-house goldsmiths and diamond setter.

To celebrate the new in-house workshop, we will be popping some bubbles on the 29th-31st of January, 2020 from 11.00-18.30 while we clean and check your pieces of jewelry as our service.

Having our own workshop in our Hidden Boutique will open a whole new world of possibilities. It will allow me to be even more creative and to develop even more designs with my rough beauties.

If you have a dream about a unique rough diamonds piece or some older pieces of jewellery collecting dust in a drawer, then we will be happy to brainstorm with you on how to give them a new life.

It’s a new beginning for us, but it has been my dream for years and to finally see it come true feels like a miracle. We look forward to welcome you into our new universe.

We hope you will relax, and embrace all those little imperfections and love it like it is.

Please join us in our Hidden Boutique for a glass of Port and some imperfect Christmas spirit.

As the new year approaches, we want to give you a little sneak peek of what is to come. Since the very beginning, I’ve dreamt of bringing the craftsmanship all the way into our Hidden Boutique and from January that will come true. Two goldsmiths and a diamond setter will join our Roughdiamonds.dk family, which will take the full creation process into our own house. More to follow soon.

#RoseWallCPH

For every rose blooming on the wall, a piece of jewellery has been given in love by the people who love each other the way they are.

The #RoseWallCPH has bloomed since 2017 and will continue to grow with love stories every summer.



The Carnival in Venice is famous for its big masquerades, where everyone is hiding behind a mask. Sometimes life itself can feel like a masquerade, where we are hiding our true selves. We believe life is most beautiful when we see the true wonder behind the masks and loves us exactly for who we are. To us, that is the secret beauty of the rough diamonds, who are brave enough to show their beauty to the world without any cutting and polishing. That is the secret beauty of being and loving life as it is.

A little over a year ago my 13-year-old daughter along with her friend, started her own project, Pillows For Africa, where half the profit of every handcrafted pillow sold goes directly to a health clinic in rural Zambia.

 Rebekka inspires me every day. That is why we decided to work with a local school next to the health clinic in Chisanza, North Eastern Zambia. A remote area with lots of opportunities to grow and prosper.

This year, we will support the children with pencils, books and other necessities for their schooling. We visited the school in March 2018 and it touched my soul, heart and mind to see the difference a pen and a book can make. We hope to play a small part in helping young Zambians reach their dreams.
 
Although we sell luxury, getting an education should not be. For every piece of jewellery we sell, Roughdiamonds.dk gives a donation directly to the children and their school.

This is the first time we have done something like this. We don’t have a grand plan yet. We just know that we want to make a positive difference. For now the pupils have books, and we will continue to support them with more teachers, tables, chairs and more.

 We want to give you a glimpse of our journey to Chizansa, so my rough diamond of a husband has created this video filled with love.

Last year we created a Rose Wall with one rose for every piece of our rough diamond jewellery that has found a new home with people who love each other the way they are. Now the roses are back with even more love stories to tell. #Roughdiamondsdk #LoveItLikeItIs #RoseWallCPH

My body has just returned home from Zambia in Africa, but a part of my soul, mind and heart has stayed behind. We believe in creating opportunities for everyone and one of the best ways to do it, is education. North Eastern Zambia is in many ways “off the map” and so isolated that regular help organisations rarely makes the journey there. We did. 

We, at Roughdiamonds.dk, will now work to create better opportunities for the children and their community. More to follow on this exciting project in the coming months.

A glimpse of our creations and exhibition for the coming months.

If you’re aching to tell the world that you are in love, then Paris’ Pont des Arts might no longer be the destination. The bridge was once covered in 45 tonnes of love locks, but last year officials removed the lovers’ symbols and the bridge railings got a new “Love Lock proof” design.

We hereby invite you to the heart of Copenhagen to show your love. 

With every piece of jewellery, we give you your own Love Lock and invite you to hang it on our Love Arch.

We believe love cures everything. Learning to love imperfection will feed your soul for a lifetime.

No pills needed. Just love.

Christmas 2017

We are open for those who would like help creating a personalised wish list for Christmas from the 28th of November to the 2nd of Dec. Join us at our Hidden Boutique, Bredgade 56 in Copenhagen.

September - November 2017

Join us at our Hidden Boutique in Copenhagen

 

Carnival offers us a dynamic way of self expression and exploration, a way to seek out our roots, a way to develop new forms of looking at the world and its cultures.
More importantly, a way to unite the world, to discover what we all have in common and to celebrate what makes us different.

Danish Performance Artist Sophie Dupont perform “Marking Breath” in my Hidden Boutique.

Sometimes it is important to stop and just breathe. That is why I will be welcoming the Danish Performance Artist Sophie Dupont to perform her art “Marking Breath”.

Sophie Dupont’s art explores the ritual repetition of the most important and simple action in life: breathing. With breathing as the starting point of the work, the barrier between art and life is removed. The work depends on breathing like the existence of life itself.

This artwork has been Sophie’s hallmark for years and it is always performed in the same way; from sunrise to sunset she will mark each of her breathes without pause.

She has performed “Marking Breath” all over the world, including the Performance Festival Forma Y Sustancia in San Salvador and the Fountain Art Fair in New York.

It is beautiful when Sophie Dupont uses her body as the medium and transforms her actions into an artwork. For this reason we have chosen a gold pannel for her day with us, that will later be displayed in our hidden boutique.  I would, therefore, love to invite you to enjoy Sophie’s performance with us and perhaps join her work by marking your own breath. Any piece of jewellery bought on the day will also get a mark of breath by Sophie in commemoration of this special event.

At sunset we will be toasting to life with a glass of champagne, so join us at Bredgade 56, 1260 Copenhagen K on the

29th of October from sunrise at 8.11 AM to sunset at 17.35 PM.

September - November 2016 

Spring / Summer 2016

Autumn 2015