Natural Diamonds like this are a rare, beautiful, billion-year-old symbol of your love.
So just what are Natural Diamonds? They're certainly more than small, expensive, shiny rocks. Their story started when the Earth was young, 1 to 3 billion years ago. But that is only the start of a great story. Most people don't know how the genuine diamond you give her in her engagement ring has benefited the lives of people across the globe on its journey to becoming the ultimate symbol of your love.
What are Natural Diamonds made of?
Where do Natural Diamonds come from?
What are Natural Diamond colors?
Is it true Diamonds Are Forever?
Before we go on I want to address why there are so many conflicting claims when it comes to diamonds and how a regular person decides what to believe. Most of this confusion is due to the introduction of man-made synthetic otherwise known as Lab Grown Diamonds. The facts surrounding both Natural Diamonds and Lab-Grown Diamonds are pretty simple. One is formed naturally, far below the surface of the Earth and the other is made by machines. No one disputes these facts. Where it gets confusing is when producers and online experts, selling lab-grown diamonds, try to convince consumers that Lab Grown Diamonds are the same as Natural Diamonds, only they cost less. Read on and you will see how different they really are.
What are Natural Diamonds?
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They are the hardest natural substance on Earth. They are so hard they can cut or polish any other natural material. And they are not just a little harder. Sapphire is the next hardest natural substance and diamonds are ten times harder than sapphire. In fact, only diamond is hard enough to polish diamond. Cutting and polishing diamonds requires remarkable exacting skill. The first Guild of diamond cutters was formed in 1375 in Nuremberg Germany.
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Diamonds are the oldest substance most people will ever touch. Natural diamonds formed between 1 to 3 billion (1,000,000,000 to 3,000,000,000) years ago long before there was life on Earth. They are so old it is hard to even comprehend.
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Diamonds are rare. All Natural Diamonds are rare, but only about 30% of all mined diamonds are of a quality that makes them suitable for jewelry. The majority of diamonds have so many blemishes and imperfections they cannot be used in diamond wedding bands, diamond earrings, or diamond fashion jewelry.
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Diamonds are romantic. Natural Diamonds never wear out. They are incredibly old, extremely rare, and eternal. This makes them the ideal symbol to represent never-ending love.
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Diamonds are expensive. Rare, original, desirable works of art are usually expensive. This is just as true for rare paintings, baseball cards, and autographed collectible football and basketballs as it is for natural diamonds. All of these rare items fill an emotional need in people that want to own something that is unique and that only they possess.
As mentioned earlier, much of the confusion regarding Lab Grown and Natural Diamonds comes from what Natural Diamonds are and what Lab Grown Diamonds are not. Both are chemically, physically, and optically the same material; crystalized carbon. Technically known as "diamond material". Here is how Natural and Lab Grown Diamonds are different.
Lab Grown Diamonds are;
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Synthetic diamond material
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Man-made clones
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A batch takes 2 to 4 weeks to grow
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There is an endless supply with more being made every day.
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They are a commercial commodity and are not romantic
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They are not expensive because they are made to order, copies of the real thing.
There is nothing wrong with Lab Grown Diamonds and they are a good choice if you are looking for an inexpensive alternative to a Natural Diamond, however, the two are not the same.
What are Natural Diamonds made of?
In a word Carbon. Carbon is the 6th element on the Periodic table. It is plentiful and all around us. People are made of carbon; the air has carbon gas in it, but diamonds are a very special form of carbon. The soot you find in a fireplace is mostly carbon. It is the residue leftover from the process of burning wood that contains carbon. The graphite found in a pencil is a more structured form of soot/carbon. Carbon forms strong horizontal bonds between the carbon atoms in graphite. Simply said, the atoms stick together in one direction but rub off easily in the other. Coal is also another very common form of carbon. While it's not hard to get carbon atoms to bond together in one direction, it is extremely difficult to get them to form strong bonds both horizontal and vertical at the same time. It takes extreme heat and pressure to force the carbon atoms into a crystal matrix called a tetrahedron. Click here if you want to see how graphite and diamonds are both carbon but completely different. Nature provided this intense heat and pressure over 100 miles below the surface of the Earth millions of years ago. Under these extreme conditions the carbon atoms line up, both vertically and horizontally, and once in this structure, they don't want to come apart. This is why diamond is so hard and long-lasting. And when only pure carbon is present, the black carbon we know as graphite or coal turns crystal clear. Natural Diamonds are amazing!
Where do Natural Diamonds come from?
Diamonds formed approximately 125 miles below the surface of the Earth. This is the only place where the pressure and temperatures required to turn carbon gas into carbon with a tetrahedron crystal exists in nature. Once formed, these diamond crystals were brought to the surface in the molten magma from volcanic eruptions. But these are not eruptions from ordinary volcanoes. Diamonds only occur in volcanoes that originate 3 times deeper within the Earth. It is a testament to the durability of Natural Diamonds that they were able to withstand the incredibly harsh conditions of traveling over a hundred miles in molten rock. This was only part of a diamond's journey to what you see today. These volcanoes erupted millions of years ago. So long ago that the original volcanic rock has long since been eroded away by wind and water. The first diamonds were discovered in streams where the water had eroded the rock. Being so hard, the diamonds remained in their natural crystalline structure. These alluvial (river) diamond deposits were first discovered in India in about 2000 bc. Due to their rarity, unusual shape, and exceptional hardness, these crystals were of high value. It wasn't until much more recent times that the true origins of diamonds were discovered as coming from the necks of rare extinct volcanos.
The Diavok diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories.
Only water is needed to mine diamonds. Diamonds are oleophilic by nature. That means they are attracted to grease. So much so that the crushed rock containing diamonds, called kimberlite, is washed with water as it passes by on belts covered with grease. The kimberlite is washed away and the diamond crystals remain stuck on the belt. In modern diamond mining, 0ver 80% of this water is recycled and reused leaving only natural rock as the byproduct of diamond mining.
Diamond mines have small footprints. Because mining is limited to the neck of the volcano, the footprint of diamond mines is relatively small compared to most other types of mining.
Strip-mining for coal in Asia
In comparison, many open coal mines in other countries leave huge scars on the land. Most copper mining, which is a vital component for both wind and solar power, is done using sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is passed through the crushed copper ore to liquefy the copper into a solution. Serious groundwater pollution is a constant threat when mining copper. Learn more about copper mining here. Diamond extraction uses only fresh water and recycled water, therefore, ground pollution is not an issue.
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Diamond mines recycle rock. The crushed rock can be used for other purposes. The mine is often flooded when mining is complete, leaving behind a lake with unpolluted freshwater. Most modern diamond mines have reclamation plans in place before mining begins.
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The majority of diamond mines are found in very remote locations. They are an important natural resource for people living in distant communities that depend on the revenue from the production of natural diamond resources. Botswana is a good example of a relatively poor country in Africa that has rich deposits of Natural Diamonds. Mining efforts there employ thousands of people and support families, schools, medical care and infrastructure.
What are Natural Diamond colors?
Many people are surprised to learn that Natural Diamonds come in many different colors. The most common natural color is vivid yellow. The colors are due to different types of gas that were present and trapped in the diamond crystal when the diamonds formed. Naturally colored diamonds are much rarer than white diamonds.
Natural yellow diamond
At Lee Read Diamonds, we have vivid yellow Natural Diamonds as well as pink and vivid green/yellow Natural Diamonds. Selecting and giving a natural-colored diamond in a pendant, ring, or engagement ring is something that is truly extraordinary. One trait of Natural Diamond colors is that many diamonds are florescent when exposed to ultra violate light. This fluorescence can dramatically improve the look of the diamond when it occurs in exceptionally transparent diamond crystals. Blue fluorescence will add a subtle blue hue to a very white diamond when viewed outdoors. Green diamonds can contain green fluorescence which makes their color even more intense in sunlight. Some poor-quality Natural Diamonds are treated with radiation to change their color and Lab Grown Diamonds can be made in a variety of colors depending on which gas is used in the growing process.
Is it true Diamonds Are Forever?
Yes. Some people believe this is just an advertising slogan, but when you think about it, Natural Diamonds formed billions of years ago, can survive the heat of molten magma and the constant erosion of the most powerful forces on Earth; wind and water. Once fashioned into a beautiful gemstone and given as a symbol of your love, a diamond won't scratch or wear down even worn 24/7/365 days a year. While it is not impossible to break a diamond, 95% will look just as good 100 or 200 years from now as it does the day you slip it on her finger. Natural Diamonds are forever, or as close as we are ever going to come to it.
I hope you have enjoyed learning more about Natural Diamonds. They truly are a miracle of nature. If you are interested in learning more about their amazing properties and history please click the button below. At Lee Read Diamonds we are passionate about sharing what we know about Natural Diamonds.