Other than diamonds being an expensive gemstone, what other things do you know about this gem that has continually fascinated people past and present due to its unique properties? Read on to find out:
The word "diamond" came from the Greek word "adamas" which means "unbreakable".
Diamonds originate miles underground, where they are formed by intense heat and pressure. Volcanic activity can carry them close enough to the surface to be mined.
Diamonds are made of pure carbon, the same substance that composes coal.
Diamonds are older than dinosaurs. The diamonds that we mine today are mostly one billion years old.
3000 years ago, Hindus believed that wearing diamonds could ward off evil and misfortune, and attract luck in warfare.
Ancient Greeks believed that diamonds were star splinters that fell down from the heavens.
Diamonds were once thought to be poisonous. No doubt this was a rumour spread by wealthy people in the past to discourage their servants and thieves from stealing their diamonds by swallowing them and retrieving them through natural means days later. Others believed that diamond dust is lethal venom, not that diamond was poisonous by nature, but on how they believed it worked once ingested. They believed that ground diamonds would act like microscopic knives once it gets in the gut, and while the stomach's busy churning the food it also would churn up the diamond dust and cause it to injure the organs from the inside until the victim dies days later due to internal bleeding. However, its truthfulness is yet to be confirmed.
Diamonds, while they are indeed the hardest naturally-occurring substance on Earth, aren't durable and can be smashed with a hammer. "Hardness" is defined as the capability of a substance to resist scratching, not its durability to strikes.
Diamonds burn in air at 1,405 degrees Fahrenheit.
Contrary to popular belief, diamonds can be found in other colours besides colourless. Diamonds can be yellow, brown, blue, purple, or even pink depending on what other substances are mixed with the diamond. For example, blue diamonds have traces of boron.
Only a diamond can cut another diamond.
It takes 250 tons of earth to mine just a single one carat diamond. Of all diamonds mined, only 20% end up as jewellery. The other 80% may end for other purposes or just discarded. Diamonds are used in industry working with drilling and cutting tools. Beauty products feature diamond dust as a great exfoliant.
Newly-mined diamonds are usually dull and lacklustre. Diamonds begin to exhibit the sparkling gem image we think of only after they're cut.
The largest diamond mined weighs a whopping 3,106 carats. It was named the Cullinan and is right now at home in the Tower of London at London, England along with the rest of the Crown Jewels.
The word "diamond" came from the Greek word "adamas" which means "unbreakable".
Diamonds originate miles underground, where they are formed by intense heat and pressure. Volcanic activity can carry them close enough to the surface to be mined.
Diamonds are made of pure carbon, the same substance that composes coal.
Diamonds are older than dinosaurs. The diamonds that we mine today are mostly one billion years old.
3000 years ago, Hindus believed that wearing diamonds could ward off evil and misfortune, and attract luck in warfare.
Ancient Greeks believed that diamonds were star splinters that fell down from the heavens.
Diamonds were once thought to be poisonous. No doubt this was a rumour spread by wealthy people in the past to discourage their servants and thieves from stealing their diamonds by swallowing them and retrieving them through natural means days later. Others believed that diamond dust is lethal venom, not that diamond was poisonous by nature, but on how they believed it worked once ingested. They believed that ground diamonds would act like microscopic knives once it gets in the gut, and while the stomach's busy churning the food it also would churn up the diamond dust and cause it to injure the organs from the inside until the victim dies days later due to internal bleeding. However, its truthfulness is yet to be confirmed.
Diamonds, while they are indeed the hardest naturally-occurring substance on Earth, aren't durable and can be smashed with a hammer. "Hardness" is defined as the capability of a substance to resist scratching, not its durability to strikes.
Diamonds burn in air at 1,405 degrees Fahrenheit.
Contrary to popular belief, diamonds can be found in other colours besides colourless. Diamonds can be yellow, brown, blue, purple, or even pink depending on what other substances are mixed with the diamond. For example, blue diamonds have traces of boron.
Only a diamond can cut another diamond.
It takes 250 tons of earth to mine just a single one carat diamond. Of all diamonds mined, only 20% end up as jewellery. The other 80% may end for other purposes or just discarded. Diamonds are used in industry working with drilling and cutting tools. Beauty products feature diamond dust as a great exfoliant.
Newly-mined diamonds are usually dull and lacklustre. Diamonds begin to exhibit the sparkling gem image we think of only after they're cut.
The largest diamond mined weighs a whopping 3,106 carats. It was named the Cullinan and is right now at home in the Tower of London at London, England along with the rest of the Crown Jewels.
