The diamond is without a doubt the most sought after gemstone on the market today. Its brilliance and durability can’t be outdone by any other stone out there. There is a lot of history associated with this beautiful rock. Humans have known about diamonds for thousands of , yet the demand for them has never waned.

The actual word diamond is derived from the Greek word adàmas meaning “unbreakable”. In early times, diamonds were both worn as jewelry and used for other purposes like scratching metals. Every culture that had diamonds used them for different purposes. The chinese used them as knives to cut Jade. Early Indian culture used diamonds for the eyes of their religious statues in order to symbolize the sun and fire. It is known that diamonds have been used as engagement symbols since the 15th century. Many cultures like the Romans and Italians believed diamonds had supernatural powers and held them in high regard.

The history of the diamond as an engagement symbol is rich. Some ancient cultures believed that if one wore a diamond on the left hand, it would ward off evil spirits and attract good fortune. One of the earliest examples of a diamond being used for a marriage is when the archduke of Austria, Maximilian married Mary of Burgandy in the late 1400’s. It was not until the mid 1900’s that diamonds became a universal symbol for engagement rings after a huge marketing campagin by DeBeers. This changed the way people looked at diamonds forever.

Diamonds were originally mined in India, then later discovered in Brazil. Over the years, as the supplies in those countries was diminished, South Africa emerged as the leader in diamond mining. To this day, South Africa has remained the leader but not without controversy. Many people call the diamonds mined in South Africa “blood diamonds” because they are mined by children. As technology has improved, the market for diamonds has changed. Eventually, the technology was developed to create diamonds under similar circumstances as in nature. This process allowed more people to have access to this beautiful stone as the prices dropped.

Diamonds are categorized by what are called “the four C’s” – cut, clarity, color and carat. The carat refers to the weight of a diamond and is measured in milligrams. Typically, the price of diamonds increases with the carat weight, but the other C’s factor in to that as well. A diamond’s cut refers to the shape and brilliance it has been given after mining. New cuts for diamonds are being developed all the time keeping consumer’s attention. The clarity of a diamond is a measure of inclusions within the stone. Clarity plays a big role in determining the cost of a diamond, even relative to its size. Often times, inclusions or imperfections can be hidden in the setting of the stone and many times are invisible to the naked eye. The final C, color, is a measure of how clear a diamond is. Diamonds are graded on how colorless they are which is another factor that influences the price. The most desirable diamond is one that is colorless.