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When I studied diamonds during my gemology course, I had an assignment to come up with as many diamond facts as I could. I have found 200+ diamond facts at that time! Here I would like to share only 25 the most interesting facts about diamonds.
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| Diamond "Hope" |
1) Diamond has got its name from the Greek "adamas" meaning "hard".
2) Diamond has three varieties: gem diamond, industrial diamond, carbonado.
3) Many new styles of cut for diamonds are invented every year.
4) The original source of diamond was India.
5) Austrlia produces colored diamonds.
6) Diamond has supreme position among gemstones because of its hardness, luster, high RI (Refractive Index) and high dispersion.
7) If diamond colored by radiation, they are not as valuable as those with natural tints.
8) Inclusions in diamonds are the crystals of other minerals and cleavages.
9) Mankind's first introduction to diamond is lost in the mist of antiquity.
10) The initial discovery of diamonds in Canada in the Lac De Grass area occurred more than ten years ago. Since that discovery the NWT has become one of the top producers of diamonds after Russia and Botswana.
11) The diamond industry is formerly conservative, secretive and tightly controlled.
12) De Beers is the largest diamond miner in the world.
13) Russia is the world's number two producer of diamonds.
14) Australia is currently the largest producer in the world by volume.
15) Congo and Angola have a large informal mining sector (smuggling).
16) The industry invests heavily to maintain consumer confidence in natural diamonds by developing technology to detect synthetic and treated stones.
17) Over the last 20 years India has increased the volume and value of diamonds processed by fife times, making it world's dominant polishing center.
18) America has a right to buy 400,000 carats a year of rough diamonds from Russia.
19) The USA makes up over 48% of the world diamond jewellery market.
20) Many observers predict that China could surpass America as the largest retail diamond market of the future.
21) Until the mid-1990s De Beers controlled 70-80% of rough diamond market.
22) De Beers heavily invested in generic advertising boosted the sales of all diamonds, not only their own ones.
23) Diamonds were used to fund civil wars in Africa.
24) Diamonds are a unique commodity that offers opportunities across economic sectors: mining, exploration, manufacturing, arts and crafts, tourism and retail.
25) The famous blue diamond is called "Hope" after name of a broker who bought it in 1830 in London.
16 comments:
Awesome facts! I think a gemology class would be so much fun to take!
It was fun! It was a 2-year course as a part of my jewellery making training.
Wow! Lots of interest facts - some I never even would've thought about.
I love colored diamonds. I think black diamonds are really pretty. I haven't seen any other colored diamonds in real life, only photos.
Blue diamonds have become popular a few years ago. You should be able to see jewelry with them in your usual jewelry stores.
I have seen a pink diamond in a wedding ring. It had a very pretty shade of pink!
SO many cool facts! I have no idea--I'm actually very new to diamonds BUT my bf and I did go look for some rings around the holidays and I wanted to brush up on as many things as possible. That said, I think colored diamonds are beautiful; the pink diamond wedding ring you describe in your comments sounds gorgeous!
I believe you you still have to go to a jeweller and custom order a wedding ring if you want a good size colored diamond. Regular jewellery stores usually offer standard stones that they know can be sold fast and easy.
These are really amazing facts. Here is another fact.. Did you know the custom of popping the question with a diamond engagement ring started off as late as in 1930’s by the celebrated jewelers De Beers as a marketing stunt and it got stuck.
Some of the most biggest diamonds and gemstones have a mesmerizing and wicked stories behind them.. like hope diamond, koh-i-noor have a scary history behind it.. see this if you want to know http://goo.gl/XwgCpN
Thank you for sharing!
Interesting facts! I had no idea Australia is such a major player in that field. My acquaintance with diamonds pretty much sums up to my engagement ring :)
Pretty much all colored diamonds come from Australia. They were not that popular until that discovery!
Very interesting, thanks for sharing!
Very interesting facts about a beautiful gemstone!
I say "Wow!!!" to the first fact. We all know that Israel ("Cnaan" at those days) was very close, and thjey both influenced each other. But only now I found about the ancainet Greek word "adamas". It's sound very similar to our Hebrew word "adama" that mean ground
Oh, I did not even expect to surprise anybody with the first diamond fact :) just because everybody in internet likes to mention it!
I've got a ring set wiith yellow & brown diamonds that is beautiful. I never knew that Canada produced diamonds so thanks for that fact!
My pleasure!
The fancy names for yellow and brown is chocolate and champagne :)
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