Diamonds

Although diamond is the hardest natural substance, if one hammered a gemstone with a hammer, one may be able to shatter the gemstone. But what a waste of a gemstone.

If you'd like, you can purchase a bag full of industrial diamonds for about the price of a latte, and hammer yourself into an answer.

Since the lattice formulation of the diamond crystal is perfect on all four sides, if you struck the rock exactly in the right place, you could split it. Diamond cutters count on this phenomenon to cut and polish raw diamonds.

Chocolate diamonds, which are actually fancy brown diamonds, have been around for centuries. However, they were rebranded as "chocolate diamonds" by the jewelry company Le Vian in the early 21st century to emphasize their warm, rich color.

The Kor-i-noor's history, as below, reveals that original flaws in the diamond were cut away on several occasions by several different owners.

In its current state, the industry definitions for its clarity are unclear. It's colour is defined as 'clearest white'. As well, this diamond is known to be a Type IIa diamond, thus categorized based on being "... almost or entirely devoid of impurities..." according to Wikipedia.

The number is comparative.

Refractive index is a dimensionless number that represents how fast radiation -- in this case, light -- travels through a medium, in this case, diamond. The number assigned to a diamond is the highest number on the scale. The scale includes gases, liquids and solids.

This means that with a refractive index of 2.42, 'light travels 2.42 times as fast in vacuum as it does in a diamond'.

You can read more about refractive indices, below.

A real diamond will usually have more brilliance, sparkle, and fire compared to fake ones. You can also use a jeweler's loupe to inspect for imperfections, such as inclusions and blemishes, which are present in natural diamonds but often absent in fake ones. Finally, consulting with a professional gemologist or using a diamond tester can provide definitive verification.

Diamonds are typically colorless due to their chemical composition and crystal structure, which allows them to transmit light without dispersing it into different colors. The carbon atoms in diamonds are arranged in a tight, symmetrical lattice structure that absorbs very little light, resulting in the appearance of a clear, colorless stone. Any impurities or structural defects in the diamond can introduce color to the stone.

'Better' is a judgement call and you are the judge.

Champagne is one of the terms used to describe a diamond, which with its colour range fits into the diamond colour brown. Chocolate is another term used to describe a shade of a brown diamond.

Diamond is not glass - it is a crystalline form of carbon. However, diamonds are used in cutting and grinding tools because they are the hardest known naturally occurring material on Earth. Glass, on the other hand, is an amorphous solid made from melting sand and other materials.

Diamonds are able to scratch other diamonds because they are one of the hardest materials known, ranking 10 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. This means that diamond has a high resistance to scratching, but it can still be scratched by another diamond due to the atomic structure and orientation of the crystals.

Carbonado, not coal, is one of the types of carbon that can turn into a diamond due to high pressure and temperature in the Earth's mantle. Coal, which is primarily made of plant material, undergoes a different process to form under different conditions.

If you threw away a diamond, it would likely be lost forever unless someone found it. Diamonds are valuable gemstones, so discarding one would be a loss in terms of financial value. Additionally, the environmental impact of mining and discarding a diamond should be considered.

A diamond is the hardest mineral on earth and your finger nail would break in half before you got enough pressure on a diamond to put a crack in it. Much less break it.

Diamonds are hard because of their unique atomic structure, which consists of carbon atoms bonded in a strong, three-dimensional network. This network of bonds makes diamonds extremely resistant to scratching and breaking, giving them their renowned hardness.

Brilliant Cut, or Round Brilliant cut as it can also be called, is a round diamond ;its the generic and most common shape you will see for a diamond in jewellery, especially engagement solitaire rings.

Diamonds that are made in a laboratory are known as lab-grown diamonds . These diamonds are considered minerals since they are optically and chemically similar to mined diamonds, formed by the same mineral known as carbon. The only difference between mined and lab-grown diamonds is where carbon is crystallized- the earth's crust or the lab. CVD diamonds look exactly like mined diamonds and sparkle like natural diamonds, which is why they are known as minerals. There is no chemical or visual difference between lab-created and mined diamonds.

No, diamonds do not come from coal mining. Diamonds are formed deep within the Earth's mantle under extreme pressure and temperature conditions. They are then brought closer to the surface through volcanic eruptions. Coal is a sedimentary rock formed from plant material over millions of years and does not contain diamonds.

Different colored diamonds are caused by the presence of trace elements or structural defects during the diamond's formation process. For example, nitrogen can make a diamond appear yellow, boron can create a blue hue, and radiation exposure can result in a green color. The color variations are due to the interaction of light with these impurities or defects within the diamond's crystal lattice.

Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring material, scoring a 10 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. This means that it is extremely resistant to scratching and is used in various industrial applications due to its hardness.

Yes, "genuine" and "real" diamonds typically refer to diamonds that are naturally formed in the Earth's crust. Synthetic or lab-created diamonds are not considered genuine or real in the traditional sense, even though they have the same chemical composition as natural diamonds.

Typically, real diamonds do not have breather holes. Breather holes are sometimes drilled into synthetic or treated diamonds to release internal stress, improve clarity, or enhance color. Authentic natural diamonds are formed deep within the earth and do not usually require breather holes.

'Expensive' diamonds are only available in about 20% of all diamonds mined, the remainder being industrial diamonds.

Of that 20%, only a few stones are large enough, clear enough, colorful enough or flawless enough to be sold as 'expensive' diamonds.