Having spent the best 18 years of his life in the desert, Subramaniam Ragubathi believes it is now time to start the harvest.

He started his exploration of the Namib Desert in 1996, most of the time solo, and found his first diamond in 1998.

"It has been 18 long years of struggle, during which I endured many obstacles and came very close to losing the finds to many unscrupulous people on several occasions," he said.