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Featured Gem DIAMOND
The hardest of all the gemstones is the precious diamond. Most of them have taken over a billion years to be formed and discovered.
Carbon is the diamond’s only element. The most valuable of the diamonds are the ones without color and inclusions, although diamonds are found displaying many of the colors of the rainbow.
BIRTHSTONE: APRIL
overview
A diamond needs special conditions in order to form and these conditions exist only 100 miles down inside the earth. The carbon will turn into diamond after about a billion years of intense heat and pressure. Graphite is also made from only carbon, however it is soft and its crystal structure is not the same as a diamond.
58X harder
A diamond gemstone is 58 times harder than anything else on our planet.
Romans
Roman naturalist Pliny declared the diamond as being the most valuable gem in the 1st century.
from the beginning
Fifty light years from earth, this star is a 10 billion-trillion-trillion carat diamond.
QUALITY FACTORS
The 4 Cs of diamonds determine the gem’s value.
color
The most valuable diamond will have no color at all, not even a yellow tinge.
clarity
Diamond clarity is judged by the characteristics inside and outside of the gemstone.
cut
Diamonds are cut in a great many different shapes and sizes to reveal brilliance.
carat weight
A diamond can look larger but have a smaller carat weight, so all are weighed.