It's time for a little diamond trivia - with practical facts and some seriously fantastical facts about diamonds that will quench your daily thirst for diamonds, diamonds, and more diamonds.
1. One and done
Diamonds are the only gemstone made of only one element – they are almost 100% pure carbon.
2. Perfection takes time
Diamonds take billions of years to form – they’re almost as old as the earth itself. Thanks to the extreme pressure and heat 100 miles below the earth’s surface, carbon transforms into diamonds. Only a few of them make it to the surface where we can find them. Thank volcanic eruptions for carrying them to our doorstep.
3. More is more
The biggest diamond ever discovered, the Cullinan diamond, was 3106 carats or 1.33 pounds. The mine’s owner gifted the diamond to King Edward, and the famed stone was eventually cut into 109 separate diamonds. Three of the largest cut diamonds are on display amongst the crown jewels in the Tower of London.
4. There’s diamonds in the sky
Scientists have discovered a planet called 55 Cancri e that is at least one-third pure diamond!
Even better, there’s a 10 billion-trillion-trillion-carat diamond star floating in the sky called Lucy. It’s rightfully named after The Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Anyone else suddenly very interested in space travel?
5. The hardest NATURAL substance on earth
Diamonds are the hardest natural substance on Earth – rated a 10 on Mohs hardness scale. The only natural thing that can scratch or cut a diamond is another diamond. When cutting rough diamonds into finished stones, artisans use tools made of diamond tipped phosphor bronze or diamond dusted steel blades.
6. What’s in a name?
The word diamond fittingly comes from the Greek word “adamas,” meaning indestructible or invincible.
7. Let it rain
Scientists believe that it rains diamonds on Nepture and Uranus. And not just small raindrop sized diamonds, think diamond droplets that are millions of carats each! Anyone else suddenly hearing, “it’s raining diamonds, hallelujah it’s raining diamonds”?
8. Beauty + Brawn
They’re not just pretty. Thanks to their indestructible nature, many of the lower-quality rough diamonds are turned into drill bits, blades, and machinery used in the construction world.
9. A diamond in the rough
Rough diamonds are cut and polished to become the glittering, faceted gems you know and love. During this process, a diamond will lose up to half of its original weight. What happens to the other half of the diamond? Some leftover pieces are cut into smaller diamonds for use in jewelry. What's not gem-quality will be converted into "industrial diamonds" and used in the construction tools we mentioned, or in diamond cutting and polishing tools.
10. Diamond rainbow
Diamonds are most commonly faint yellow to colorless, but there's also a whole world of fancy colored diamonds that span the rainbow. Our favorite? Pink diamonds, of course.