Why the Diamond is a Precious Jewel

Wars have been fought over diamonds. People have been murdered for diamonds. Kings and queens have used them as symbols of power. To people everywhere, diamonds are symbols of beauty and wealth.
The Kohinoor is the most famous diamond in the world. The stone's long and tragic history was set down in 1526 by Baber, who founded the Mogul Dynasty in India. For a long time, it was believed that the owner of the Kohinoor ruled the world--even though he was always in danger of losing his life. The sons and brothers of rulers owning the diamond fought for it continuously. One ruler refused to tell the stone's hiding place even when boiling pitch was poured over his head.
Diamonds are one of the hardest materials known. Their hardiness enables them to resist scratching and chipping. Diamonds can also take a steady, hard pressure without cracking or being worn down. But they can be shattered easily by a sharp blow. Diamonds come in many different sizes and shapes. The weight of a diamond is expressed in carats. Once carat equals 200 milligrams (about 1/142 ounce).
Rough diamonds are cut and polished to reveal their brilliance. The shape of the gem depends on the shape of the original crystal. In a properly cut diamond, light that enters is reflected back through the top. The reflected light is often colored because diamonds break up white light into the colors of the spectrum.
The quality and price of gem diamonds depend on four factors: perfection, color, cutting, and size. The best diamonds contain the fewest flaws, such as cracks and uncrystallized carbon. The most valuable stones are transparent and colorless. The more brilliant the cut, the greater the value. Finally, the heavier the stone, the greater the value.
Historians believe that the earliest diamonds came from India. Several diamond deposits were known and worked in ancient times in the region of Hyderabad in central India. These diamonds were bought and sold by traders in the city of Golconda. In the 1720's, large diamond deposits were found in Brazil by miners looking for gold in the Jequitinhonha River. More than a century later, in 1867, children playing along the banks of Orange River at Hopetown found the first South African diamond. The stone weighed about 22 carats. In 1869, a stone almost four times larger was uncovered in a stream east of Hopetown. This led to a diamond rush in South Africa and the discovery of the famous Kimberley fields.
In the mid-1950s, companies in Sweden and the United States successfully manufactured the first synthetic diamonds. To create a diamond, engineers had to duplicate the pressure and temperature of the volcanoes where diamonds were originally formed. They discovered that by adding a metal catalyst, they could trigger the formation process. They added the catalyst to carbon and placed the mixture in a pressure cell. When the reaction was over and the mixture had cooled, it was dissolved in acid. The diamonds, which are not hurt by acid, were left.
The first synthetic diamonds were of industrial quality. Synthetic gem diamonds were not made until 1970.
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