As the hardest natural material on the planet, diamonds have always held a unique position amongst the minerals of the earth. Some diamonds found in South America and Africa were actually created in outer space and deposited on Earth as a result of the asteroid showers that took place about 3 billion years ago. However, the vast majority of the diamonds on the planet were created over the course of millions of years just below the continental plates of the Earth’s crust.
While most of the world considers the word diamond almost synonymous with their use in jewelry, more than 80% of the world’s diamonds have industrial not commercial gemstone applications. Due to a diamond’s hardness and its ability to with stand high temperatures, most industrial diamond is embedded in the grinding, drilling cutting and polishing tools that power industry. With the creation of synthetic, man made diamonds more applications in the electronics and computer industries have become possible.
The history of diamonds as gemstones begins in India at least 3000 years ago, where they were used as adornments for religious statutes. Until the 18th century, India was the primary source for the world’s diamonds, being replaced at that time by Brazil. In the late 19th century South Africa became the primary source of diamonds, and up until today South Africa still accounts for almost half of the world’s diamonds. Many other countries contribute to the balance of diamonds in the world, including Russia, Australia, Canada, the Congo and Brazil. While the diamonds used as gemstones are primarily white, diamonds come in a variety of colors ranging from black and varying shades of brown, yellow, and pink. There are also very rare instances where green, blue, and red diamonds have been found. This last group of diamonds, those with a color other than white are sometimes called “fancies” or “fancy colored diamonds” and depending on the exact shade or color of the diamond command a premium price way in excess of what a similar white diamond might command.
Diamond in its raw form is called “rough diamond” and in many instances looks nothing like its brilliant and sparkling cousin. After being taken from the mines this “rough diamond” is sorted and graded by its size and potential shape and quality. It is then sold or traded through a series of dealers before ending up in a diamond-cutting factory where it is polished into the form that most people are familiar with. This done mostly in Europe, specifically Antwerp, Belguim where about 80% of all rough diamond is traded. The vast majority of diamonds are then sent to cutting factories, smaller stones going to India and the larger staying in Antwerp, or going to other major cutting centers in Israel or New York. Today, with modern methods of shaping and faceting the stones, diamonds are polished to near mathematical perfection guaranteeing brilliance, proportion and luster. These polished diamonds are then resorted and graded by their shape, size, color and clarity to be sold to dealers all over the world where they are ultimately used to create all the many different styles and types of jewelry that are available to the public.
The business of Diamonds is truly a global business with sales of all grades of diamond totaling more almost $9 billion US dollars a year. The growth of this business has been clearly fueled by the increased affluence of societies all over the world and their desire to own and wear gem quality diamonds as well as the many industrial uses this unique mineral provides.
