Diamond is a precious stone consisting of a clear and colorless crystalline form of pure carbon, the hardest naturally occurring substance.
The name diamond is derived from the ancient Greek meaning “proper”, “unalterable”, “unbreakable”, “untamed”, “invincible”.
Most natural diamonds are formed at high temperature and pressure at depths of 140 to 190 kilometers (87 to 118 miles) below ground and have been carried to the earth’s surface by deep volcanic eruptions.
Diamonds can be found in shallow alluvial deposits where the crystals settle after being transported away from the kimberlite pipes by geologic activity and rivers.
Most diamonds found in nature are between 1 to 3 billion years old.
The Earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago. The oldest diamonds are believed to have been crystallized around 3.3 billion years ago.
Diamonds were first discovered in India and then in Brazil.
Diamonds were used to engrave gemstones in India by 300 B.C.
The ancient Romans and Greeks believed that diamonds were tears cried by the gods or splinters from falling stars, and Romans believed that Cupid’s arrows were tipped with diamonds.
Classical Greek philosopher Plato write about diamonds as living beings that embodied celestial spirits.
Romans also believed that diamonds had the power to ward off evil and wore them as talismans. They inherited this belief from Indian mythology
In the 1st century A.D., the Roman naturalist Pliny is quoted as having said, “Diamond is the most valuable, not only of precious stones, but of all things in this world.”
A law in thirteenth-century France decreed that only the King could wear diamonds.
In 1477 the Archduke of Austria gave a diamond engagement ring to Mary of Burgundy. This was the earliest record of man giving diamond ring to a woman.
The diamond is a birthstone for people born in the month of April.
There is a scale of diamond color from D to Z. D, of course, is completely colorless while Z is light color. All D-Z diamonds are considered white, even though they contain varying degrees of color.
True fancy colored diamonds (such as intense pink, blue and red diamonds) are graded on a separate color scale.
The top 3 diamonds mines in the world are: Botswana (24 million carats), Russia (17.8 million carats) and Canada (10.9 million carats).
The top 5 producing countries by volume of production are Russia, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo , Australia and Canada. They are the world’s largest producer and exporter of rough diamonds by volume.Russia holds what is believed to be the world’s largest and richest diamond resources.
The United States is the world’s leading consumer of gemstones. In 2014 it consumed about $22.5 billion in unset gem-quality stones. That was about 35% of the world’s gem diamond production.
A single diamond of two carats is worth more than twice a much as 2 one carat diamonds.
The only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond.
In 2004 scientists discovered the largest diamond ever. In fact it’s a collapsed star. Measuring 4000 km across and having a core composed of 10 billion trillion trillion carats it’s roughly 50 light years from the Earth.
The Cullinan diamond was the largest gem-quality diamond ever found , at 3106.75 carat (621.35 g, 1.37 lb) rough weight. About 10.5 centimeters (4.1 inches) long in its largest dimension, it was found on 26 January 1905, near Pretoria, South Africa. It was cut into 105 diamonds including the Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, 530.2 carats (106.04 g), and the Cullinan II or the Lesser Star of Africa, 317.4 carats (63.48 g), both of which are now part of the British Crown Jewels.
The Koh-i-Noor Diamond or KohiNoor Diamond as it is sometimes known was originally the largest cut diamond in the world. It originated in India where it passed through the hands of both Indian and Persian rulers who fought over its possession. For hundreds of years it was one of the most sought after spoils of war in the region. When England seized control of the region in 1849 British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli took control of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond and had it sent as a gift to Queen Victoria who was proclaimed Empress of India.Today the diamond is a part of the Crown of Queen Elizabeth .
The Centenary Diamond is Discovered at the Premier Mine in July 1986, the Centenary diamond is believed to have weighed about 599.10 carats in the rough. Master cutter Gabi Tolkowsky and his select team took nearly three years to transform it in to the largest, most modern-cut, flawless, and top-colour diamond. It is known to possess 247 facets with 164 of them on the stone, and 83 over its girdle. On the whole, it weight 273.85 carats.
The Orlov (sometimes spelled Orloff), a rare rose-cut gem, described by some as being shaped like half of a pigeon’s egg, has been the target of thieves for centuries. There is very little known about the origin of the famous gem, other than it may have originated in India before arriving at its current resting place–the Imperial Scepter, part of the crown jewels of Russia.
The Hope Diamond is the previous record holder for being the largest faceted diamond and is probably the most well known and historically interesting of all diamonds. The Hope Diamond was originally known as the Tavernier Blue which was a crudely cut triangular diamond.The Hope Diamiond is notorious for supposedly being cursed. It has a long recorded history, with few gaps, in which it changed hands numerous times on its way from India to France to Britain and eventually to the United States, where it has been regularly on public display since.
