Dazzling Diamonds Add Yuletide Sparkle

April's birthstone gem, the diamond, is truly the stuff of legends, though most of those legends are of much later invention than you might think. The lure of these precious stones has held us in thrall. Diamonds have adorned crowned heads; men have plundered and died for them, kingdoms have fallen on their account. All for a piece of the sparkling allure that is the diamond gemstone.

In North America, a diamond is the traditional stone of choice for an engagement ring. Though a relatively new phenomenon - since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - this custom is rapidly being adopted by other countries. The diamond ring is now the preferred token of engagement for modern young ladies in Japan, as well as England and many European countries.

What are diamonds that they hold such a place in our imaginations? Diamonds are composed entirely of carbon, and are really nothing more nor less than pieces of carbon that have been subjected to immense heat and pressure, over centuries of time.

This heat and pressure has caused the carbon to transform into one of the hardest naturally occurring minerals known to mankind - the diamond.

Once cut and polished, the diamond is as sparkling and clear as the carbon that formed it was opaque and dark.

Diamonds are mined in three major ways, from alluvial deposits, where they are picked up from among the loose gravel; through hard-rock mining, as in South Africa and Canada's Arctic; and in open pit mines, where huge machines rip up tons of diamond-bearing rock which is then processed.

Diamonds occur in sufficient quantities and quality to be mined in Africa, Australia, Russia, India, Canada and the United States.

Roughly half of the world's diamonds originate in the African continent - notably Sierra Leone, Angola and Congo. Stones from these areas are sent to international trading centers, the best known and busiest of which is Antwerp.

After they are sold, the diamonds are sent off to be cut and polished in India(Gujarat), Thailand, China before they arrive on a jeweler's shelves.

Interesting Diamond "Factoid" - Hard-rock diamond mining was carried out for years under what is now the city of Johannesburg, in South Africa. The diamond-bearing veins of rock, called the stope, were drilled and blasted, and the diamond-laden rubble was carted to the surface for processing.

As the stope became worked out, the tunnels were gradually abandoned, leaving behind a honey-comb of drilled-out chambers. All the while, the city continued to grow over the worked-out mines. Now, the city of Johannesburg has sunk several feet lower than the surrounding landscape as layers of rock surrounding the empty, worked-out stope collapse.

One of the facets of the mystique of diamonds is their rarity. An interesting fact about diamonds, though, is that they are far more common than one would think. In some places on earth, they can be scooped out of the gravel (alluvial mining). Not all are of sufficient quality to be used as gemstones, but certainly are good enough for industrial use.

In order to keep the price of diamonds high enough to support the business that has grown up around these gems, the notion of rarity must be fostered. As well, the quantity of diamonds available on the market must be carefully controlled by the diamond cartels.

The resale value of diamonds is shockingly low, in comparison to their initial purchase price. This, too is part of the price control necessary to the diamond. Were all the diamond gemstones currently available suddenly released for sale, they would create a glut on the market, and drive the price so low the cartels and sub-industries might never recover.

An entire industry has grown up around this control. Only certain people are licensed to buy diamonds, and to sell diamond gemstones. Cut, unset diamond gemstones will usually be sold in packets, with only the karat weight and quality being made known before the sale. If the buyer is acceptable and has the required finances, they will be invited to a "sight".

Once at the "sight," the buyer will be shown the diamonds, and given the opportunity to examine, and purchase the packet. It is a "Yes" or "No" proposition. To refuse the packet, though, might cost the buyer future opportunities to purchase.

In the early 1900s, the extraction of two-third's of the diamonds in Africa was controlled by insurgent and rebel groups. The diamonds were used to purchase arms, and to support the fighting. Men, women, and children were beaten, tortured, maimed, and killed in the diamond mines and in the conflicts the diamonds funded.

It took more than a decade of protests, raising awareness and pushing for change, for governments around the world to take action and devise the "conflict diamond campaign" - the Kimberley certification.

The Kimberly Certificate was created to stop so-called blood diamonds or conflict diamonds from entering the market. Buyers of diamonds with Kimberly Certification can purchase such diamonds reassured that those diamond gemstones have no history of blood, conflict, or death attached to them.

The Kimberley certification process still has loopholes, though. It lists diamonds from Zimbabwe, as "conflict free" inspite of the fact that the Zimbabwean military under President Robert Mugabe reportedly still uses forced labor, murder, and torture to keep production going.

As well, Kimberly certification does not prevent the use of child labour in third world countries, where the stones are cut and polished.

Diamonds mined in Canada, Australia, and the U.S. are all guaranteed to be conflict free. Polar Bear diamonds, mined in Canada's Arctic are engraved with a tiny image of a polar bear. They are mined, cut, polished, set, and sold without the use of child labor, slave labor, or any bloodshed over them.

Diamond cutting is a fairly recent invention. Diamonds were originally set in polished nugget form, much like seed pearls. though rare, there is no evidence that they were particularly highly prized over colored gems in ancient times. In fact, rubies and emeralds, as well as pearls were featured more often in decorative jewelry.

With the development of "cutting" gemstones to reveal their sparkling facets, diamonds began to come into their own. As they were still relatively rare, and remained so until the major finds in South Africa and Russia, became much more highly prized.

Large diamonds, such as the Hope Diamond and the Star of India captured the imagination with their histories of romance and intrigue. Diamonds were still viewed by the general populace as something only royalty or those who were extremely wealthy could aspire to own.

It took a major advertising campaign by DeBeers to really bring the idea that anyone could and should possess a diamond to the forefront of public imagination. Their commercials not only captured the minds and hearts of North Americans, their campaigns continue to convince lovers the world over that a diamond is the true, and truly desirable symbol of love.

Diamonds have long been known to occur in white, and very rarely, in brown or champagne, canary (yellow), and rarest of all, the black diamond. Recently, though, diamonds have been mined in gemstone quality in shades of blue, blue green, green and pink.

Colored varieties are quite rare, though a recent find of gemstone quality pink diamonds has created quite a stir the jewelry industry.

The Black Diamond of Bahia was found in Brazil, weighing in at 350 carats stone. The diamond was so hard it could not be polished, and is famous for its unpolished rugged look.

The Black Star of Africa is said to be the largest polished colored diamond in the world, weighing 202 carat and valued at 1.2 million dollars, US.

Alaska black diamonds are really not diamonds at all, but are a form of hematite. They were very popular in the mid-twentieth century, and were widely available particularly in the Marquis cut, an elongated shape that best showcased the sparkle of the almost opaque gemstone.

The Alaska black diamond, or black hematite was almost as widely used in jewelry and ornamentation as was jet, during the Victorian era.

Whatever your feelings about diamonds, they continue to intrigue and dazzle us as they have done since antiquity. Diamonds are still one of the most recognized symbols of enduring romantic love and betrothal.

Whether you are fortunate enough to be an April-born, and own the diamond as your birthstone gem, or are simply one who loves the diamond's radiance and sparkle, you will surely enjoy this exquisite stone in any piece of jewelry, from pendants and earrings to a lovely solitaire diamond ring.

© 2010, Text by Elle Fredine, All rights reserved