Cape May Diamonds
What Are Cape May Diamonds?
We have all heard the saying. “diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” from the movie Gentleman Prefer Blondes. What many people don’t know is that on the beaches of Cape May, located at the southernmost tip of New Jersey, people can go on a treasure hunt for Cape May Diamonds!
The Kechemeche Indians that lived along the coastline were the first people to find these beautiful translucent stones that we know today as Cape May diamonds. The Kechemeche believed that these stones had powers of good fortune, success, and well-being for those that possessed them. They were so highly regarded that Cape May diamonds were used as gifts and traded with other Native American communities, and later, with settlers that arrived here. One of the earliest settlers on Cape May, Christopher Leaming, received a large diamond from Chief Nummy, the last chief of the Kechemeche people as proof of their friendship and loyalty.
The journey of Cape May diamonds actually begins in the upper reaches of the Delaware River whose swift waters erode away veins of quartz crystals. These quartz crystals break off and begin their 200-mile river journey to the sandy beaches of Cape May. As they tumble along the current, the stones are rounded, polished, and buffed.
When these stones reach Delaware Bay, they are tossed about in the strong flow of the tides. It is at this point that they encounter the Atlantus, a World War I concrete freighter. This vessel was intentionally sunk to create a special drawbridge for the development of a ferry service from Cape May to Lewes, Delaware in 1926. While waiting to be positioned, there was a sudden storm in the bay and an accident happened. The Atlantus washed aground about a mile west of her intended resting place where she sits to this very day. The “lucky” accident of the Atlantus is the reason why so many of these stones wash up on Cape May’s sandy beaches instead of flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.
One of the best places to look for Cape May diamonds is along the pebble-strewn shoreline of Sunset Beach. When the quartz is wet, it shines like brilliant diamonds, making them easy to spot. These clear or opaque quartz diamonds are generally pretty small, averaging about a quarter of an inch. Finds have been reported to be as big as an egg and, the largest stone found weighed more than a pound! A plastic sifter is a great tool to have if you plan to hunt for Cape May diamonds. You can scoop up some sand with lots of stones in it, shake the sand out and, look for stones that you want to keep.
Today several Cape May jewelry shops cut and polish these stones and set them in gold or silver. When professionally faceted, these stones have the appearance of genuine diamonds. Every spring, summer, and fall hundreds of visitors come to Cape May to see the weather-beaten hull of the Atlantus and search for Cape May diamonds on Sunset Beach. On our small group tour of Cape May, there is plenty of free time to go on a treasure hunt for diamonds - so don’t leave home without your sifter!