The History of Diamonds

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Diamonds have been one of the most sought after substances on earth for as long as history can remember. To the ancient Greeks diamonds were thought to be divine tears shed from the eyes of the gods, while the Romans deemed them to be fragments of tumbling stars.

On a more prosaic level diamonds are crystallized hunks of carbon that were formed deep in the bowels of the earth between one and three billion years ago. Over time they have worked their way to the earth's surface (in volcanic magma pipes) and today are found across the globe, from Australia to America . However, the lion's share of diamonds still belongs to the African continent.

Diamonds are thought to have taken their name form the Greek word adamas , which translates as unconquerable and presumably alludes to a diamond's strength. Diamond is the hardest substance on earth, and it's a well-known fact that: in order to cut a diamond - you must use another diamond (which is why it's important to keep any diamond jewelry separate from other less durable gems).

Diamonds come in all sorts of shapes and sizes (and even colors), so before you start shopping for diamonds it's essential that you do your homework first. Diamonds are graded and valued according to the 4Cs: Color , Clarity, Cut and Carat . Buying online is a great way to make real savings, but you must insist that any diamonds you buy come with certification from either the Gemological Institute of America, or the European Gemological Laboratory.

Today synthetic diamonds can be produced in the laboratory by mimicking the evolutionary conditions that lead to their original formation. This is something of a mixed blessing for consumers. On one hand it means that more people will be able to afford the sparkle of man-made diamonds, but it's also going to get much tougher to for the consumer to know they are actually getting what they pay for (even accomplished jewelers are now having difficulty distinguishing between mined and manufactured diamonds).

Another 'challenge' to the diamond industry has just been discovered by astronomers a mere 50 light years away. In the middle of the Centaurus constellation star gazers have just spotted a star with more twinkle than most. 'The Diamond Planet', more formally known as BPM 37093, is in fact one enormous diamond measuring a generous 4,000 km in width and weighing a phenomenal 10 billion trillion trillion carats.

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