101 Unique Feautures of Diamonds, Part 1.

Few colourless gems possess the ability to break up white light into the dazzling colours of the rainbow.
This ability of colour dispersion is just one of the myriad of attributes that diamonds have.

In this, the 1st part of our series on “101 Unique Features of Diamonds”, we cover the first 20 of these
wonderful facts. Enjoy!!

1. It’s the hardest substance known to man
2. The word diamond comes from the Greek work adamas meaning unconquerable
3. It crystallized more than 3 billion years ago in the earth’s mantle
4. These diamonds were brought to the earth’s surface by volcanic eruptions, called Kimberlites, that originated more than 150 kilometers deep
5. In South Africa diamonds are also found on the Atlantic beaches. They have been washed down by rivers to the sea
6. Diamonds are mined 20 kilometers from the Atlantic Coast at a depth 0f 500 meters where rivers dropped them when the Atlantic Coast extended that far to the east
7. Every diamond is unique – no two are the same
8. Diamonds are weighed in carats the word comes from the seeds of the carob tree. Because of their uniform weight (approx 200mg = 1 carat) ancient gem traders used carob seeds to weigh gems
9. The best colour for a diamond is no colour- a white diamond does not exists
10. The so called laws in a diamond are normally minute crystals of other minerals such as iron oxides, olivine, peridot, etc. It can also be the original diamond seed crystal over which the larger stone grew
11. Rough gem quality diamonds are sorted into more than 5000 categories by de Beers
12. A rough diamond looks like a dull glass pebble
13. Diamonds can scratch each other – so do not jumble them together in a box
14. A diamond of over 1 carat is truly one in a million
15. Diamonds have a grain like wood – along witch it can split under a heavy blow
16. Diamonds can be sawn through by a thin brass disc coated with oil and diamond dust
17. On average 200 ton of kimberlite have to be mined to produce a 1 carat diamond
18. Only 20% of the world’s diamond production can be considered of gem quality
19. 80% of the world’s diamond production is used for industrial purposes like cutting, grinding, drilling and polishing
20. All the gem quality diamonds ever mined in the world can be carried by a 2.5 ton truck

Remember to come back to read our next 20 fascinating facts, coming soon…!