Diamond History
Nobody can say with 100% certainty exactly when first discovered, but we do have evidence that about 4,000 years ago, humans found diamonds in caves in India in the Golconda Region. These diamond gems were very different from diamonds of today because the rough diamonds were uncut, unpolished, unshaped and looked like crystalline rocks similar to other rocks, yet remarkably they found their way to Europe, China, etc., and became status symbols among kings and queens. The folklore and myths surrounding diamonds were believed to possess supernatural powers, invincibility, and unbreakable love passed on to the owner or holder of the gemstone.
Romans even believed Cupids arrows had diamond tips to ensure ‘falling in love’. Until 18th century the only place in the world believed to have diamonds was India. Brazil then discovered a diamond deposit around the same time, however the majority of Brazilian diamonds were not high gem quality. Fast forward to February, 1866 South Africa a 15-year old boy Erasmus Jacobs finds a transparent rock on his family farm (not realizing its value, it was later sent to a scientist who confirmed it was a diamond) and the rest became history. South Africa in the next few years produces more diamonds than the previous 2,000 years of Indian diamonds. Similar to the USA ‘Gold Rush’, South Africa quickly became a race for prospectors from around the world who arrived to dig for diamonds. South African diamonds were a turning point in commercial diamond history, and no longer were diamonds exclusively for kings and queens.
Some interesting facts about diamonds:
Diamond is the hardest natural substance found on our planet (the only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond)
Diamond is the only gemstone made of one single element: carbon
Diamonds are billions of years old; most between 1 and 3 billion but in some cases more than 3 billion years old, with the youngest diamond being 900 million years old.
Diamond cutting; a diamond will lose approximately half its weight during the cutting and polishing process
Diamonds are found in every color of the rainbow.
Diamond planet - scientists discovered a white dwarf star in the Centauri system identified as BPM 37093; a planet believed to be composed mostly of carbon, and is one-third pure diamond. Discovered in 2004, the planet is essentially a diamond of ten billion trillion carats. They named the star Lucy after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
Diamond size; the largest diamond ever found weighed 3106 carats (approximately 621 grams or 1.3 pounds)
Diamonds are mined in 25 countries around the world, on every continent except Europe and Antarctica
Diamonds form about 100 miles below ground and have been carried to the earth’s surface by deep volcanic eruptions
Diamonds today can be grown in a laboratory by mimicking nature with extreme heat and pressure of earth’s mantle; the results are virtually impossible to distinguish from a mined diamond by eye: the reason is because they ARE diamonds
Diamond sales; USA is the largest diamond market worldwide
Diamonds, aside from beautiful jewelry have many industrial uses including automotive, medical, computer chips, beauty products, windows, construction equipment, NASA space technology, engraving, audio equipment, even lasers.