Peter Whiting played for the New Zealand All Blacks in the 1970s, and was a science teacher on the side. He was also “mad for rocks”, says his daughter Cushla, and on a trip to South Africa near the end of his rugby union career, he visited a diamond mine.

“He was chatting about his next step after football and someone suggested he import diamonds into New Zealand,” says Cushla’s sister, Anna. “And so he became New Zealand’s first diamond importer.”