Divine Diamonds: A shower of sparkling facts about Aprils birthstone
Platinum diamond solitaire ring from the Artistry Collection
1.Diamond is probably the worlds most studied and documented gemstone, which isnt all that surprising given the length of its history and the fact that it has always been, and remains to this day, the most valued of all stones.
2. Its the birthstone for April and represents the 60th and 75th anniversaries.
3. Despite periods of popularity for other gemstones, it is still the most popular stone for engagement rings. No other stone is as deeply connected in our consciousness with the notion of eternal, everlasting, unbreakable love.
18ct rose gold and princess cut diamond engagement ring
4. Best known for its durability; diamond is 58 times harder than any other substance found in nature, it can only be cut with another diamond and is the only gemstone with a hardness rating of 10 on the Mohs scale.
5. The very first people to value this remarkable stone are thought to be the ancient Indians, who discovered deposits in the rivers Krishna, Penna and Godavari as far back as potentially 6,000 years ago and by 400 b.c. they had codified rules for assessing the worth of individual gems.
6. Diamond seems to have a long association with extreme weather, for example, ancient Hindu priests believed that it was formed from lightning strikes and the Sanskrit word for diamond can also be translated as thunderbolt. It turns out they werent far off the mark. Diamond is formed under high pressure and at high temperature more than 100 miles below the earths crust, they are only brought to the surface naturally by volcanic activity. The only other known way that diamond is formed is via the extreme conditions created when meteors hit the ground.
Customisable diamond stud earrings with your choice of metal and stone from our Bespoke Collection
7. The conditions under which they are formed makes them pretty much fireproof. Diamond will not burn or melt until heated to over 700 degrees Celsius.
8. The ancient Greeks were aware of its strength and associated it with their god, Mars the Warrior. As such, they believed the stone had the power to render a soldier invincible. In fact, the ancient Greek word for diamond is adamos, which also means invincible, unbreakable or unconquerable.
9. It has even been used in the past to judge guilt or innocence. The more a diamond sparkled, the more likely you were innocent, but if it dulled or darkened then your guilt was assured.
10. Fast-forward to the medieval era and Indian diamonds began to make their way along trading routes to Venice, which rapidly became Europes first diamond cutting centre. By the 1400s, diamond had become the no. 1 most desired accessory amongst the wealthy merchants and bankers of the town.
Rose gold & diamond heart pendant from the Bespoke Collection
11. Louis IX of France prized diamonds so much that he didnt want them de-valued by wealthy commoners dripping in them, so he passed a law which prevented anyone other than court aristocracy from owning diamonds. This law prevailed well into the 1800s!
12. When deposits were discovered in Kimberley, South Africa in 1866, they led to the creation of some of the worlds best-known diamond houses. De Beers was established by Cecil Rhodes in 1888 and by 1900, it controlled 90% of the production of South African diamonds.
13. Diamonds are now mined in more than 25 countries including Brazil, Russia and Australia, but no diamond deposits have ever been mined in Europe.
14. The largest cut diamond in the world is the Golden Jubilee, which weighs in at an astonishing 545.65 carats. The De Beers group chose world-famous diamond cutter Gabi Tolkowsky to fashion this yellow-brown stunner, which he expertly gave a brilliant cut of 148 facets to enhance its golden hues. It was fittingly given the King of Thailand upon his golden jubilee.
Take home your own Golden Jubilee diamond with this 18ct white gold and superb yellow diamond ring
15. Whilst the Golden Jubilee Diamond may be the largest on earth, its not the biggest known to man. The largest ever discovered isnt on earth at all, its 50 light years away and its a dwarf white star named Lucy. Formed of entirely diamond, the star is an estimated 10 billion trillion trillion carats. Thats one whopping solitaire!
16. Confused by carats? 1 carat equals two-tenths or 0.2 grams (in old money thats seven-thousandths or 0.007 of an ounce). One ounce contains 142 carats and one carat weighs about the same as a paperclip. But dont mix your carats with your karats. A karat is the unit of measurement used to describe the amount of gold in an alloy, whereas a carat is used to describe the weight of a gemstone. You often see these expressed as 18k gold with a 1.02ct diamond, but its easy to get befuddled as karats and carats can both be legitimately abbreviated as ct.
17. Classic white (sometimes called clear) diamonds are graded for colour…or more accurately, the lack of it, using the D-Z classification system. D represents completely colourlessness and is considered the most desirable grade.
A round Brilliant cut diamond giving a spectacular refractive show
18. And if you want a diamond that truly dazzles then consider a flawless stone with a brilliant cut. Cut in this manner a flawless specimen will throw-back 100% of the light cast upon it. Its the reason why diamond has the highest possible refractive index of any gemstone.
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