Diamond Rings

Diamond Rings: What Makes A Diamond Rare

Diamonds are mainly formed in molten lava in volcanoes and deep within the earth. As the magma within the volcano starts solidifying, the immense heat and pressure force the carbon atoms that are present in the lava to line up into octahedrons or eight sided crystals, (the classic “diamond” shape). Since all volcanoes do not contain carbon in their lava, diamonds are found in only a few volcanic regions in the world.

As the centuries pass, the upper portions of volcanoes erode and break down, disintegrating the rock and forming soil. Some of the diamonds eventually wash their way into rivers and streams into the valleys below. A diamond could possibly be the most ancient substance that you own. All natural diamonds are at least 990 million years old and some of the oldest diamonds are 3 billion years old. They were created in molten lava in the mantle of the earth and found their way to the surface of the planet many millions of years later!

Diamond Rings – The History

It is believed that the earliest diamonds were found in Central India. There were rich deposits found and mined in the ancient Kingdom of Golconda. The rough gems were then traded and sold in the city of Golconda. These stones were particularly transparent and the term “a gem of the finest water” is still used to describe exceptionally crystal clear diamonds. In the 1700s, gold miners working the Jequitinhonha river in Brazil, discovered large deposits of diamonds. And more than a 100 years later, the first South African diamond was discovered by children playing along the banks of the Orange River, near Hopetown. The finding of another larger diamond in the same area a couple of years later started the famous diamond rush in South Africa and led to the discovery of the well known Kimberly Diamond Mines. Diamond fields are still being discovered, like Siberia in the 1990s, but the majority of diamonds today still come from South Africa.

Diamond Rings – The Perfect Finish

The diamond is one of the hardest substances known to man. It can only be cut by another diamond, and great care and skill are required in the production of a gemstone. The process of producing a single gemstone involves:

• Marking (planning the cut)
• Cleaving (splitting, if required)
• Sawing (sawing through a 1 carat diamond can take up to 8 hours)
• Bruting (or Girdling, for that classic round diamond shape) and finally
• Faceting (which requires two craftsmen, the “lapper” who places the first 18 facets, and the "brillianteer" who will cut and polish the remaining 40 facets.

There are at least 6 highly skilled master craftsmen involved in the creation of a single brilliant jewel and one diamond takes hundreds of hours to create. This is what makes the diamond so rare and also makes it the ultimate gift of love!