There are a lot of precious gemstone in the world like ruby, sapphire and onice but diamond is the most precious and desired gemstone in the world.
If you wish to learn everything about this precious stone, go on reading this article or rather discover our diamonds selection on OIRITALY.IT
A BIT OF HISTORY
There are many ancient stories handed down about diamonds. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance for example, people believed that diamonds had esoteric powers such as courage, strength and virtue. Greek philosophers instead, believed that they were inhabited by celestial spirits. In Ancient Rome people believed that diamonds were God’s tears or sky’s splinters fallen on Earth.
The first evidences regarding their use come precisely from Ancient Rome, where diamonds were used as engraving tools due to their particular hardness. In China instead, diamonds were used as talismans against evil spirits.
The first diamonds mining sites were discovered in India and in Borneo, the South East Asia island close to The Philippines. Lately, other deposits have been found in Brazil and South Africa, in particular the last one became the main extraction site in the world.
Gradually, a worldwide market arose to handle the trade of this precious gemstone.
Diamond’s extraction can occur in primary or secondary sites.
In primary sites, diamonds are extracted by the crumbling of kimberlite, which is an ultrabasic magmatic rock. Secondary sites are located in areas close to the primary sites, these are usually alluvial terrains, where diamonds were deposited and from which they are also extracted.
The high price of diamonds is due to its small presence on earth and to the mining process: today we can count about fifty diamonds deposits that can be used for commercial extraction.
CURIOSITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF DIAMONDS
- Due to their ancient origin, diamonds can provide us some scientific evidences about how Earth was two billion years ago.
- The word “diamond” comes from “adamas”, a greek word meaning “invincible”. There are two possible explanations about this name’s choice: the first one is about its conformation, which is extremely hard; the second one is about love, “invincible” reminds the eternity of love.
- Diamonds have become the gemstone representing love by definition. The tradition of giving an engagement ring with a diamond on it dates back to 1477, more precisely when Mary of Burgundy received this precious ring as a gift from Archduke Maximilian of Austria. From that moment on, it became the highest symbol of love.
- Its brightness is given by the precision and refinement of its cut. The most known cut is the brilliant cut, but there are many others like heart cut, the emerald cut and the pear cut. As well as cut, the other characteristics defining the value of a diamond are carats, color and clarity, the so called “4 C’s”.
Discover all the peculiarities of diamonds in our DIAMOND CHARACTERISTICS TABLE.
Diamonds are also consider the lucky gemstone of the astrological sign of Leo. If you wish to discover which lucky gemstone represents your sign, read our article.
Thanks to its invaluable value, diamonds are one of the most common investment stones on market, an eternal reminder of a special moment. Discover our selection of investment gemstones.
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