Diamonds are Pure Carbon. It is one of the earth's most common elements. It is a simple material, found in graphite pencils and fireplace soot. Diamonds were formed, and crystallized eons ago under incredible heat and pressure deep in the earth. During the earths growing phase millions of years ago, great volcanic forces pushed the earth containing the diamonds to the surface where they were scattered along rivers and into the oceans. All the diamonds that were found were in India then in the 18th century they were found in Brazil. In 1870, in South Africa a diamond was found in the earth far from a river source, and the practice of dry-digging for diamonds was born. This was the beginnings of modern mining. The De Beers family took over all the diamond trading in South Africa and had a monopoly on the diamond trade buying up all the other diamond mines around the world. They did this in order to keep the diamond prices high. Major deposits were found in Siberian permafrost in l954. And currently Western Canada is the site of the world's newest diamond rush. Still with these new discoveries the De Beers cartel still controls 60-80% of the market. Anytime you shop for a diamond you will here the phrase "the 4 C's". What this is referring to is clarity, color, cut, and carat size and all of these play a part in the value of the diamond.
             Clarity refers to how free the diamond is of blemishes and inclusions when seen by the naked eye and under a 10X microscope. Blemishes are the imperfections on the outside of a diamond. A chip is a little piece missing. Most people know that the diamond is the hardest natural substance known to earth. What most people don't know is that, that doesn't make it the toughest. You can chip a diamond through normal wear. A scratch is a line or abrasion. A fracture is a crack on the diamonds surface. And you can also have a diamond with polishing lines which are fine lines on the...