10 diamonds facts that will amaze you

Hi,

We thought it could be really nice to collect a few interesting facts about diamonds for you to read and enjoy for the most beautiful time of the year, the holidays season, also known as “shopping season”. So before you go out and do your eye-to-diamond research, we thought that you might want to know that:

1. America buys up more than half of the worlds supply od diamonds, which makes it the biggest diamond market in the world.

2. A diamond may be up to three billion years old! The diamond crystallization process starts at approximately 200 kilometers, or 320 miles, beneath the surface, and typically rises to the surface in volcanic rock.

3. Diamond is a mineral composed of pure carbon. Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring known substance on earth.

4. A diamond carat differs from a gold carat. The gold carat indicates purity – pure gold being 24 carats. One diamond carat is 200 milligrams (0.007055 oz). The word carat derives from the carob bean. Gem dealers used to balance their scales with carob beans because these beans all have same weight.

5. Since diamonds can withstand extremely high temperatures and hardcore conditions, they are used in windows for deep space travel on spacecraft.

6. The largest diamond in the universe is 2,500 miles wide and found 50 light years away in the constellation Centaurus. Imagine the number of engagement rings that could be made out of that rock!

7. 70% of all brides receive a diamond engagement ring; over 75% of all first-time brides receive one. 50% of all couples choose a diamond engagement ring together.

8. Although diamonds are most often seen in their white/clear variation, they can include the whole color spectrum from clear to black! Most often they”re brown and yellow; most rarely they”re blue or pink. Also, most are tinged with yellow, so they are often set in yellow gold to mask the yellowish gem color, believed to be caused by Nitrogen.

9. Diamonds range in color from icy winter whites to warm summer whites. Diamonds are graded on a color scale which ranges from D (colorless) to Z. Warmer colored diamonds (K-Z) ‘glow’ when set in yellow gold. Icy whites (D-J) look stunning set in white gold or platinum. Color differences are very subtle and it is very difficult to see the difference between, say, an E and an F. Therefore, colors are graded under controlled lighting conditions and are compared to a master set for accuracy.

10. The most publicized romantic diamond gifts in modern times have been the jewels given by Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor. These include a 33 carat diamond worth over $14 million and the pear shaped 69 carat Taylor-Burton diamond.

We hope you enjoyed it,

Diamonds-usa.com