Intro.
What is a diamond?
A diamond is actually a gem, formed the same way as coal and pencil lead, it is actually made out of carbon! The diamond is found deep within the ground and they can take thousands of years to grow, due to an enormous amount of heat and pressure they can't ever hope to become diamonds until they make their way out of the ground to be found
Who was the first to ever find diamonds
The diamond first discovered 4000 years ago and for a large part of the history of man they couldn't understand where else to find any more, but humans rediscovered them again in India by collectors, who took the stones up from riverbeds to sculpt into carvings or Jewelry but usually gave them as a gift, either for a celebration on an holy day or for someone whom was wishing good luck. A lot of societies believed diamonds held many magical powers and that they would protect a human being from being harmed in battle, and that they could keep people from becoming ill! I would imagine I would feel very pleased and brave if I owned one. Shortly after the scientists discovered they could be mined in Australia and also other countries than Russia but they didn't have a huge impact on any of the worlds markets until in late 1800's masses of large diamonds were found in South Africa which lead to massive popularity for them and for diamonds again in India but far on a much bigger scale.
How is a diamond made?
A diamond can only reach our hands when it is shot up out of the ground from a volcano, or as we know them kimberlite pipes, (due to containing lots of rocks). They can then be excavated and people can go about picking them up from where they have fallen out of the sky How cool is it that a diamond's life is a lot older than a dinosaur's, and diamonds are 3 billion years old or more! So you could say that the diamond HAS seen your great-great-great-great-great great grandmother
But why is the diamond so expensive?
There is a large variety of reasons why diamonds are so precious, but I've told you that the main two reasons are; because there are not a vast amount of diamonds to be sold on the world's markets, and; they are difficult to obtain and require a massive amount of work and time to obtain them, and even though they have dug millions of mountains of rocks away they can't usually find much diamond in them and that is why it is so expensive to buy diamonds. However I think some people believe it is due to four different 'Four Cs', these will tell you how valuable diamonds are:
* The color, the quality of the gem also depends on the colors, the diamonds need to appear white with perhaps the tiniest hue.
* The Clarity of a diamond should be as clear as possible, the best of world diamonds are virtually impossible to spot an impurity even through a lens.
* The Carat, this simply refers to the weight and size of a diamond, but it can be difficult to ascertain, so size of a diamond generally means weight,
* The Cut determines how a diamond sparks the way a diamond is cut and the way it reflects off it.
And of course, diamonds are signs of love, and that they represent money and wealth, that is why we all have diamond wedding rings!
Famous diamonds throughout history:
The Koh-i-noor, This has always been claimed to be one of the best diamonds in the world, though its exact whereabouts have always been unknown and not proven but historians suggest it was found in India, this diamond is now with the British Crown Jewels but many previous owners have believed that this stone is actually evil! The Hope Diamond, this beautiful deep blue stone can be found in the Smithsonian's Museum in Washington, and this diamond is said to have a curse placed upon it. Apparently a number of past owners have apparently been extremely ill, and have even died, after having possessed it
Diamonds today
Diamonds in modern society, have a wide range of different uses in which you wouldn't of thought of before, we do not just wear diamonds in rings or jewelry as their strength makes them suitable for things such as drilling tools, cutting equipment or even for scientists to use in labs; although we have heard there are many man-made diamonds that people are starting to buy as it is basically the same substance they just don't have to work as hard to achieve good diamonds for us, the world may be full of man-made diamonds in the future when people find their own wedding rings!
Mining, and ethics associated with it
Extracting diamonds from underground requires people to go hundreds of miles down a tunnel of the earth every day and have to remain there for a considerable length of time, because of this it is believed that they can be harmful to our own environment, and to human beings. I think the most prominent issue has been in countries in developing areas where to dig up the diamond can take many years to finish but the problem for humans is traveling so far underground, which does have an impact of families as they will obviously miss their loved ones as they haven't seen them for yearsDiamonds are lovely and costly but the value placed upon them has perhaps only come from the popularity of diamonds on the world markets which causes them to glitter in the light like a million stars, wedding gifts, royal crowns, they seem to represent wealth and love all together, diamonds, what are they really and who found the first one? Let's go and have a look
What is a diamond really?
* Did you know if you burned the diamond enough it would burn?
* Under ultra violet light a diamond will appear with it's true colors as this is what gives them there sparkle,
* The biggest ever diamond ever found weighed an astounding 3,100 carats and this cost a massive amount of money,
* Scientists claim that many millions of diamonds could be in existence on other planets out in the