1.    The word diamond comes from the Greek word “adamas” means unconquerable and indestructible.

2.    The word carat comes from Carob Mediterranean tree whose seed was used for centuries as the standard of weighing precious stones.

3.    The diamond is the hardest natural substance found on the earth.

4.    On average diamonds are 3.4 billion years old.

5.    Diamonds are formed approximately 100 miles beneath the earth’s surface.

6.    Diamond crystals are brought closer to the earth’s surface through volcanic activity.

7.    The earliest diamond producing mines were in India in 1600’s.

8.    250 tons of earth must be mined to produce a single one carat diamond.

9. 80% of the world’s diamonds are not suitable for jewelery.

10. The largest diamond ever found was “Cullinan” at 3,106 carats discovered in South Africa. It was broken into two pieces- Cullinan I and Cullinan II.

11. The world record price for a colorless diamond was US $142,232 per carat paid for a 52.59 carat diamond in 1988.

12. Diamonds can come in a range of colors like red, blue, pink, green, amber and yellow and are called fancy diamonds.

13. Diamonds get their pink and red color because of defects in their crystal lattice structure.

14. Diamonds get their blue and yellow colors because of traces of gases like boron and nitrogen.

15. Green color in diamonds is the effect of crystals coming in contact with a radioactive source during its geological formation.

16. Fancy diamonds are extremely rare in nature. There are only 1-2 carats of colored gems out of every 3000 carat of gems that are mined.

17. Highest auction price ever paid for a colored diamond was US$926,315 per carat for a 0.95 carat purplish red diamond in 1987. TOP