Photo By: Jennifrog
We all know the basics of the classic diamond: its hard, its a girl’s best friend, used in engagement rings, one of the rarest stones, but how are diamonds formed? What exactly makes them rare?
Diamonds are produced within the earth’s mantle layer which is about 100 miles beneath the earth’s surface. Diamond mines don’t necessarily drill 100 miles beneath the earth, rather they set up a mine where a volcanic eruption in the earth occurred. It is here that one finds the remnants of diamond within pieces of xenoliths. These xenoliths are pieces of the earth’s mantle that were pushed to the earth’s surface for miners to search and find the pieces of crude diamond. Now diamond isn’t automatically that picture of sparkling beauty, rather it is raw and looks like rock. The beauty is unfolded when the jeweler cuts into the diamond and polishes away the rock sediment to reveal the treasure beneath, much like other gems that are found within the earth.
Yet, many diamonds are not only used for jewelry. Industries often used pieces of crushed diamond to melt with metal in order to create a durable machine used for stone cutting, drills, and many other types of utility tools. Diamonds that are too big to cut for jewelry are often given to the metal industry to use in production machinery. The qualities looked for in these diamonds are heat conductivity and hardness to withstand different materials. Diamonds are often used in lasers to because they cooperate well with high intensity heat, used in saws and finely ground into a paste to help clean stones and metals.
photo by: tao_zyhn
Here are some of the desired characteristics within a diamond:
- Hardness/Durability – the diamond is one of the hardest known natural minerals in the world. Its crystalline structure may become weak under different circumstances, however this is very slight in comparison to its excellent hardness under pressure.
- Tolerance under pressure – the diamond withstands in high heat situations. It will remain stable in up to 6, 420 degrees Fahrenheit which makes it a very hardy mineral to use for different operations.
- Dispersion of Light - the diamond can reflect and refract light with incredible accuracy. Its index of refraction is 2.33. This is useful for delicate operations and increases its beauty as a gem.
