 |
A Brief History of the Diamond
by Adala Fendham
http://www.autodiamonds.com
Diamonds have been around for ages. The youngest
examples of this gem are about a billion years old!
That's because diamonds are produced when carbon is
compressed under the earth for a long time, under
intense pressure and in high heat. In fact, it takes
a temperature of about two thousand degrees Fahrenheit
to produce a sparkler!
So how do these precious gems make their way into our
hands? They travel ninety miles up from the earth's depths
by riding on a current of volcanic magma. (The rarity of
diamonds has something to do with the fact that volcanoes
so deep down are few and far between.) Like coal, diamonds
are a product of the element carbon. It is because of the
extreme temperatures and pressures that carbon is turned
into diamonds.
Diamonds have been precious throughout history. Before
the birth of Christ, citizens in India were using these
beautiful stones as decorative items. In Ancient China,
they were put to a different, more practical use. Since
they are incredibly hard--the word "diamonds" comes from
the Greek term "impossible to tame"--the Chinese used
them to engrave jade, which they considered a more
valuable substance.
For almost a thousand years up to the middle ages in
Europe, diamonds were completely out of fashion. This was
due to the combined effects of trade restrictions between
Europe and diamond-rich India, and the association of
diamonds with non-Christian amulets that meant diamonds had
bad associations in Christian Europe.
But trade into Europe picked up from around 1300 AD
onwards, and diamonds became popular. Whereas Indian
diamond enthusiasts preferred to leave diamonds in their
raw state, the Europeans soon began cutting diamonds into
different shapes and polishing them to a brilliant finish.
The art of diamond cutting has been through many changes
throughout diamond history. The aim of the cutting is to
let the diamond shine most beautifully - to show off what
diamond experts call the fire of the diamond. Their are
many cuts, with names like point, table, rose and Mazarin
cuts. One of the finest patterns was developed by a German
mathematician and diamond lover named Marcel Tolkowsky. He
used his mathematical gifts to calculate the ideal shape to
show a diamond its best.
The association of diamonds with luxury is due to the
rarity of the raw diamond - they have always been hard to
come by. However the reputation as an elite jewel was
helped by the French king Louis the ninth who decided that
only Kings were fit to own diamonds, and passed a law to
stop the rest of his people owning the gem!
The diamonds used throughout most of human history have
been found in river beds by carefully searching. The fact
that diamonds could be mined was not discovered until late
in the Nineteenth Century - in South Africa in 1870 a
diamond was unearthed miles from any river and the country
very quickly went on to become a world diamond power.
The unit used to measure diamonds is the carats, which
denotes weight. One ounce is equal to one hundred and
forty-seven carats. But diamonds are precious when they
are as small as a single carat, and some are measured in
units below a carat, called a "point." Fifty points is
the equivalent of a half-carat.
Modern technology has made it possible to make diamonds
artificially. It remains hard to do, so the man-made
diamonds are still expensive. They are not as expensive as
their billion year old cousins however, and have nothing
like the prestige of a naturally formed diamond.
Submit An Article
|
|  |
