Up Close With Jewel Diamant

This feature appears in the October issue of AVN magazine. LOS ANGELES—She had a male friend in the adult industry whom she accompanied to the AVN Expo last year, instantly falling in love with the performers she met and the stories they shared. She had toyed with the idea of doing porn but hadn’t much considered the mechanics. “I never actually thought about the process of becoming a porn star,” she recalled. “Who are the connections? What do I do? I never thought about it.” Nature called while waiting outside for her friend to shoot a scene. “I went inside to use the bathroom, and the photographer on set made a beeline for me.” Opportunity knocked next. “He asked my name,” she said Though she had never done a scene, she had thought about it enough to pick out a stage name. “I’m Jewel Diamant,” she announced. A few months later, that same photographer was shooting her for the February cover of Hustler magazine, complete with a 14-page spread. There, she struck up a friendship with the head of the company, who would introduce her to Mark Spiegler, the Willy Wonka of industry agents and a known catalyst in the careers of countless starlets. “Spiegler is my golden ticket into all of this,” Diamant beamed. “I went from not knowing what the fuck I’m doing, wanting to take it seriously, but not having the resources—to connecting with Spiegler, who’s all like, ‘Let’s go!’ I cannot tell you how much I love it. I am having so much fun!” Diamant, a professional model for six years, began posing nude while living in Hawaii, where one of her neighbors happened to be a photographer for an online magazine. “She had all these artistic shots of girls in Hawaii running around in bikinis,” she remembered. “Beautiful work. I saw it as art. I’ve always had a thing for sex appeal. When I model and do scenes now, my favorite thing is how confident I feel in the moment. I feel so good and pretty and composed.” In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, Diamant left Hawaii with a one-way ticket to Oaxaca, Mexico—only to discover that, as an American guest, she couldn’t work a traditional job. So she launched her OnlyFans channel. The 5-foot-8, all-natural stunner had always gravitated toward the provocative during her modeling career, saying she enjoyed doing “the implied nude stuff” over standard fashion shoots. “I’ve always favored being on the raunchier side,” she admitted. “I didn’t see modeling as my long-term career—the end, the thing I’m reaching for the most. As much as I absolutely loved it, I had to be realistic with myself. As hard as I worked and as much effort as I put in, it just wasn’t going to be what I wanted it to be. I feel very lucky that I still get to do it—just taking the clothes off these days.” While she spent most of 2024 testing the waters of the adult industry, Diamant has spent the last six months fully immersed in projects, including a scene with Seth Gamble for LucidFlix inspired by a ’90s Calvin Klein ad featuring Kate Moss and Mark Wahlberg. “We basically replicated that ad,” she said. “Then, we walk off the set and fuck. It’s the hottest scene I’ve ever experienced. I had so much fun filming it—probably because of the fashion aspect. Seeing the way it came out, I was like, ‘Wow, I feel pretty right now.’ It was such a confidence spike.” Diamant is also setting up her very first gangbang. “At least five guys,” she said. “I like the hardcore gonzo stuff. That’s my favorite. I’m a screamer, so I like it when I get to let that out. I love being spanked, choked, smacked, all that—spit all over me. I like it aggressive; I like the manhandling. I tend to have more fun when it’s an intense scene.” Diamant hasn’t had a break in a long time, and she doesn’t want one. Not now, when she’s catching fire. Even her first performances are gaining recognition. This year, her adult movie debut won Best Bi Sex Scene at the GayVN Awards (“Bisexual Stepdad Goes Wild”). “It was the very first scene I ever performed in,” she gushed. “When I won that award, I was, like, ‘Fuck yeah, let’s get all the rest of the awards, too!” And, she’s only getting started. Diamant said, “There are so many kinds of scenes I want to do. Awards I want to win. Companies and performers I want to work with. I say this so proudly and happily: I’m in this industry, and I choose to do this because I absolutely fucking love it.” Photography by @kogafoto