Diamonds

Blood diamonds earn their name based on how they are mined: at gunpoint, under threat of death/ dismemberment. These diamonds are then traded among terrorists to fund civil war and general mayhem against humans.

All of the tasks involved in the blood diamond trade are illegal.

Whenever you purchase a diamond, you can request its Kimberly Certificate, which gives you the best assurance that your diamond is not a blood diamond -- that is, mined by hand by workers under threat of death.

When you purchase a diamond from a private seller, you can request provenance -- that is, the history of the diamond -- and there are no assurances that what you receive will be authentic.

If you own diamonds that you purchased or that you know were purchased legally, you can pay for a certificate from a gemologist for each diamond, so that you have documentation about the colour, carat weight, clarity and cut of each. Yes, you can sell these diamonds legally.

You can sell each diamond with its attendant certificate to whomever will buy it from you. Jewelers or private individuals are all generally interested in purchasing diamonds for the right price.

If the diamonds are illegal diamonds, they may be traceable, meaning that if you attempt to sell them, you could be arrested for participation in the crime that produced the diamonds as a result of the crime.

No, uncut diamonds are not illegal. However, there are regulations regarding the mining, buying, and selling of diamonds to prevent the trade of conflict diamonds that fund armed conflicts. It is important to ensure that diamonds are sourced ethically and comply with international regulations.

The conflict of blood diamonds was addressed through the implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in 2003. This scheme aims to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate diamond trade by setting standards for certification and monitoring of diamond production and trade. Additionally, consumer awareness and pressure on the jewelry industry have also played a role in reducing the prevalence of blood diamonds in the market.

Diamonds do not directly affect demographics. However, the mining and selling of diamonds can impact the economic conditions in regions where they are sourced, which may in turn influence demographics through factors like employment rates, migration patterns, and wealth distribution.

Demographics refer to statistical data relating to a specific population, such as age, gender, income, education level, etc. It can be collected from various sources like surveys, censuses, or market research.

NACP likely stands for the North American Classification and Placement Program, which is a system used in the criminal justice system to classify and place offenders based on their risk level and treatment needs.

Diamonds are continuously being found around the world, so there is no specific "last time" that they were found. The mining of diamonds happens on an ongoing basis in various countries where they are naturally occurring.

There is no single 'blood diamond'. The term blood diamond is applied to diamonds dug by humans at gunpoint under threat of death or dismemberment. Monies from the sale of blood diamonds funds terrorism, war and civil mayhem.

You can read more about the history of blood diamonds in several African countries, below.

Cajamarca is a city in Peru, located in the northern highlands of the country. Diamond likely refers to the diamond shape, which is a geometric shape with four sides of equal length and two acute angles.

'Blood' describes the mining method, not the type or quality of the stones found.

Blood diamonds are diamonds excavated from the earth by people who work as 'slaves', and whose work with diamonds can cause them to bleed to death when the overseer hacks off their hand or shoots the slave on a whim.

Because one digs blood diamonds at gunpoint, you might not want to volunteer for this job.

At gunpoint, or knife-point or under other threat of death or physical mayhem, you stand in a stream and pick through rocks in the stream bed, or dig with a shovel and fill sorting trays with earth, while another 'slave' sifts through the earth searching for diamonds.

The Cullinan diamond was found in Africa in 1905. It was cut into several individual stones, the largest of which were named by appending Roman Numerals after Cullinan.

You can read more about these diamonds, below.

Blood diamonds become blood diamonds when they are traded for money to finance terrorism, mayhem and other crimes against humanity. Diamonds found anywhere can become blood diamonds, therefore, depending on how they are traded.

According to Wikipedia:

"Cecil Rhodes, the founder of De Beers, got his start by renting water pumps to miners during the diamond rush that started in 1871, when an 83.5 carat diamond was found on Colesburg Kopje (present day Kimberley), South Africa. He invested the profits of this operation into buying up claims of small mining operators, with his operations soon expanding into a separate mining company."

Diamonds were first 'discovered', however, about 6,000 years ago, and not by De Beers. The De Beers organization simply capitalized on mining diamonds in South Africa. It is believed that diamonds were first 'discovered' in India.

According to Answers.com:

"It is thought that diamonds were first discovered in India about 6,000 years ago in the riverbeds of the region."

And

"The actual mining of diamonds as an industry can be traced back to India to around 800 to 600B.C."

Read more, below.

Diamonds were discovered in 1867 on Cecil Rhodes' property, sparking the famous diamond rush in Kimberley, South Africa. This led to the establishment of De Beers Consolidated Mines, which became a dominant force in the global diamond industry.

Usually illegally indentured servants -- indentured at gunpoint, who dig by hand for stones in exchange for their lives or the lives of their families.

All natural diamonds are 'made' by Mother Nature, deep within the earth's mantle.

That some stones erupt into political geographies is a sad phenomenon that hovers over all of Mother Nature's gifts to humans.

Humans have known about diamonds for about 6,000 years. The exact location where a human picked up a 'shiny rock' and admired it, kept it and determined that it was special, has been lost to history.

It's possible that diamonds were discovered in India as long ago as 6,000 years.

Without documentation, it might be difficult to settle on a precise year in which diamonds were first mined.

Initially, it's understandable that diamonds were found far from their point of origin, having been washed into riverbeds by water running over the diamond pipe.

Diamonds have been part of human history for more than 6,000 years. The best estimates are that the earliest diamonds were found in India. Whether these stones were actually mined, or were simply picked up from the dirt is unknown.

Mining for diamonds commercially can be traced to India, Brazil and South Africa in the 1800s.

The Hope Diamond has changed hands many times over the course of its documented history, and some of these exchanges have occurred by theft. The same could be said about its previous, undocumented history, also.

One look at the Hope and one can understand that for whatever other reason it has been stolen, it's beauty, size, and value are certainly primary motivators.

Major? I believe it was DeBeers...after they consolidated the independent mining concerns and cornered the market.

Diamonds are naturally-occurring, and thus, have been around in recognizable form for billions of years.

Cut diamonds required the human invention of hard tools, likely advanced Stone Age tools. Thus, cut diamonds have probably been around for at least 10,000 years or more.

Note that diamonds, like gemstones and other crystalline forms, do not need to be refined (that is, no chemical action needs to be taken to obtain the "pure" item). They may be cut or polished to enhance their visual (or practical) use, but the raw natural form is easily recognizable and can be obtained in places by as simple a method as picking the raw diamond up off the ground.