| Diamonds have grading certificates for a reason, | | | | Ivory Coast, Ghana, Central African Republic, |
| for your protection and your diamonds protection | | | | Tanzania, China, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, and India. |
| as well. Accuracy is very important to the beauty | | | | Diamonds have been known since ancient times. |
| and value of your gemstone. It's a good reason | | | | They were originally used as a tool to carve other |
| to remember the dates that your jewelry was | | | | gems like lapis and carnelian. |
| bought or when it was given to you. Usually to go | | | | Ancient Greeks believed that diamonds were |
| on with enhancing a stone, the clarity or inclusions | | | | splinters of stars that had fallen on earth. Some |
| have to be pretty visible. Thus, they drill holes into | | | | said that they were the tears of gods. Legend |
| the flaws and bleach out the dark inclusions. This | | | | has it that there existed an inaccessible valley |
| usually fills the holes or large inclusions that break | | | | somewhere in Central Asia; a carpet of diamonds |
| the surface up with a compatible material. | | | | covered it. It was patrolled by prehistoric birds of |
| The only problem is that this makes the diamond | | | | prey and guarded by venomous snakes. |
| unstable, which means that it'll be difficult for | | | | However, the truth is that the exact origin of |
| someone to work on the ring. Also, it can't be | | | | diamonds is still a mystery, to scientists and |
| cleaned in a real ultrasonic or steamed container. | | | | geologists. |
| Diamonds are magnetic to oil and it needs to be | | | | Diamonds were formed as long ago as 3.5 billion |
| heated to release the oil from the stone. There is | | | | years, under conditions of great heat and |
| no way to care for your diamond like a natural | | | | pressure, deep inside the earth. This correlates |
| diamond. Find a nice GIA cert diamond SI 2 in | | | | with the earliest stages of the development of |
| clarity and F- G in color with a good make. Or, | | | | our planet, estimated to be in the region of 4.5 |
| you can find an EGL SI1 EF as they are much | | | | billion years old. |
| more lenient in their grading. | | | | Volcanic eruptions carried the diamonds to the |
| Diamonds are so valuable because the price of | | | | surface of the earth millions of years ago. |
| anything is determined by supply and demand. | | | | Diamonds are found in cone-shaped pipes of rock |
| There is a great demand for diamonds and the | | | | called kimberlitic. These pipes have been |
| appearance of a short supply is maintained by | | | | weathered and their diamonds dispersed by rivers |
| DeBeers Consolidated. | | | | to far-lying areas, such as coastlines. They should |
| The Seven major diamond mining countries of the | | | | last for several million more years. |
| world are: Botswana, Russia, South Africa, Angola, | | | | Prices for diamonds are determined for the most |
| Namibia, Australia, and Democratic Republic of | | | | part by DeBeers Consolidated Mines which is the |
| Congo. | | | | largest monopoly in the world. The prices are |
| Diamonds are also mined in these countries: Brazil, | | | | based on color, clarity, cutting proportions and |
| Guyana, Venezuela, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, | | | | carat weight. |