Diamond Facts

• Diamonds are over 3 billion years old, that’s two thirds the age of the earth.
• Diamonds are made of carbon.
• Diamonds are the hardest natural substance, given a 10 on the Moh’s hardness scale; they will scratch all other gemstones.
• The only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond.
• The word diamond is from the Greek word adamas, meaning invincible.
• Diamonds are widely used in abrasives and tools like drill bits.
• Diamonds are rated by evaluating the four C’s: carat, color, clarity, and cut.
• Diamonds can be found in Africa, India, Australia, Brazil, Russia, Canada, and the United States.
• The largest gem quality diamond ever found is the Cullinan Diamond found in South Africa, weighing in at 3,106.75 carats.
• Diamonds are often colorless, but can also form in almost any color. Diamonds with a color other than yellow or brown are called colored or fancy diamonds.
• Conflict diamonds have been reduced to less than 1% since the implementation of the Kimberley Process in 2003.
• Fewer than 20% of the entire world’s diamonds are of gem quality.
• Diamonds form 50 or more miles below ground and reach the earth’s surface through volcanic pipes.
• Diamonds must be heated to 1292 degrees Fahrenheit to burn. Don’t worry about a house fire, on average they only reach up to 1100 degrees.
• For every 90,000 diamonds Australia’s Argyle Mine produces, only one is a pink diamond.
• Many diamonds, both colored and colorless in natural light will fluoresce under ultraviolet light.
• Diamonds are called the stone of love.
• The first record of a man giving a woman a diamond as an engagement ring was when the Archduke of Austria gave a diamond to Mary of Burgundy in 1477. Today diamonds are still the most popular gem in engagement rings.
• A single one-carat diamond is found only in about every 250 tons of mined earth.
• You can dig for diamonds in Arkansas! The Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only diamond mine open to the pubic. For a fee you can dig and keep anything you find!

Diamond Diagrams