Diamond and Diamond Jewellery (Chapter1)
Diamond and Diamond Jewellery (Chapter1)
Diamond and Diamond Jewellery (Chapter1)
In The Beginning... There Was A Diamond....
For overwhelming majority of humanity the diamond stands above all the other gems. With its history dating back to the biblical times, its beauty and innovative modern marketing approach, diamondsreputation as being the most important gemstone is virtually unchallenged.
Diamond is mentioned in the Bible on multiple occasions. It was one of the stones worn by the high priest and was called Yahalom or Shamir. While Ezekiel describes diamond as being harder than flint and able to cut characters in the stone, Zechariah compares it to hearts of stubborn people. The word diamond derives from Greek word "adamas", meaning "unconquerable", in earlier literature word "adamas" referred to iron and iron alloys, but by the first century B.C. it was used to identify the diamond.
Roman scholars calleddiamonds as the most valuable thing on earth known only to the kings with unprecedented hardness and beauty. In Ancient Indiadiamonds not only were actively traded but there was a system of regulations and taxation.
The First Diamond...
India was the first known source ofdiamonds with evidence of diamond extraction dating back to 800 B.C.Diamonds started to reach Europe during Roman Empire and after Muslim invasion in year 1000, the trade with the Europe intensified.
Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who travelled to India between 1630 and 1688, provided a record on diamond mining in Soumelpour, Raolconda and Kollur mines. Kollur mine has a unique place in diamond history as a source of 280 ct Great Mogul, 140 ct Regent and 112 Tavernier Blue Diamonds. India domination of diamond trade came to an end with the discovery of diamond deposits in Brazil in 18th century.
Kalimantan region of Borneo (today's Indonesia) became another important source of diamonds; as a result it was under Chinese influence during Sung dynasty (960 and 1279) and from 16 century under Portuguese control, followed by Dutch, English and finally Indonesia. Borneo has two diamond rich areas- Landak River and Kalimantan, but despite the fact that the mining continued throughout the centuries, it took place at a very modest pace.
In Brazil the discovery ofdiamonds began with ...gold. In 1725 a Portuguese official while visiting a gold mine in Minas Gerais, noticed crystalline stones used by miners, which he identified asdiamonds. The diamond rich areas were declared as crown property and prospecting intensified leading to creation of nearby colonies.
In 18th century large quantities of Braziliandiamonds entering the market lead to 75% drop in their value. Brazil's dominance in the diamond market continued for 150 years then it slowly was overshadowed by events in South Africa.
Despite its short mining history, Brazil did produce a few remarkable stones such as 1680 ct Braganza and 262 ct Star of the South, which was later cut in to 129 ct oval diamond.
DiamondsToday...
The discovery ofdiamonds in South Africa, the richest source of roughdiamonds, changed the nature of diamond business, broadening the diamond market and offering livelihood to millions of people on six continents.
For the last 100 years the diamond trade was dominated by one company De Bears, whose unique marketing strategy and control of 85% of world roughdiamonds, sustained the stone monetary value yet making it within the reach of ordinary consumer.
Despite South Africa being the main source of roughdiamonds, India is still a prominent member of diamond community as a manufacturing and trading centre with relatively small mining activity.
Brazil on other hand is considered only as a minor producer, but there is no 100% accurate output data due to the simple fact- much of mining activities are carried out by small operators in numerous locations around the country with most of the goods being exported illegally out of the country.
Diamond mining in Borneo region continued through the centuries, but since 1980 many foreign companies began prospecting projects in Kalimantan, stating that there maybe a possibility of diamond deposits comparable to those in South Africa, turning Borneo into a world class producer.
A Little Bit About The Diamond...
The diamond is the hardest natural substance known and rated 10 on Mohs scale. The only gemstones that are closely as hard as diamond are gemstones from corundum family, ruby and sapphire (9 on Mohs scale).
Thediamonds are formed at high temperature 90-120 miles deep in the earth mantle. The diamondsare carbon based minerals with the rate of growth between 1 billion to 3.3 billion years that brought to the surface of the earth through volcanic eruption of magma that cools into igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites. The diamond can also be produced synthetically in the process that simulates earth high pressure and temperature.
Read more aboutdiamonds in our next article...
This blog is based on Sevdermish, M. & Mashiah, A (1997). The Dealer's Book of Gems and Diamonds, Vol 2.
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