Diamonds

Many things have been said about diamonds: a diamond is a girl’s best friend; a diamond is forever.

Diamonds are the hardest gem stone. They are created over billions of years under extreme pressure and heat in the Earth’s mantle and are fascinating for many reasons. Scientifically, they are chemically composed of carbon, but with such strong covalent bonds that they are very hard to break. Elements as such as boron and nitrogen cause diamonds to exhibit a blue or yellow hue.

Diamonds have been used and admired for thousands of years. They are thought to have been first found in India, and some of the world’s most famous diamonds originally came from the Golconda region of India, which became a diamond trading centre and led to the association of Golconda with wealth and beautiful, unrivalled diamonds.

Red diamonds are the rarest, and even the world’s diamond experts are not able to fully explain the cause of their colour.

“Adding to the mystique of red diamonds is the question of how they get their color. GIA researchers, who have been studying diamonds for decades and have access to the most sophisticated equipment, are still not sure what causes their color. One explanation is that defects in the atomic structure that result from gliding (the slight movement of atoms along the octahedral direction) are partially responsible.” Source: Gemological Institute of America.

If you are not already familiar with the four Cs of diamonds (colour, clarity, cut and carat), follow this link to learn more.

Diamonds have long been associated with some of the most famous people and jewellery collections in the world, from Grace Kelly’s 10.47-carat emerald-cut Cartier diamond engagement ring to the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, which include the world’s largest clear cut diamond (at 530 carats), set in the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross. Diamonds are certainly one way of capturing that special memory forever.