Diamond gemstone

Physical properties of diamond

Characteristics of a diamond

Diamond (adamas, king of stones) - can safely be considered the best precious stone. After all, diamonds are incredibly durable and have a high refractive index of light (especially those that have been processed in the hands of a jeweler). Not to mention how high the price of these extraordinary gems. It is not for nothing that the diamond was called such a grandiloquent title - “the king of stones”.

The word "diamond" itself was formed, according to one version, from the Greek "adamas", which means "invincible". According to another version, the diamond owes its name to the Persian word "elma" - "hardest". But whatever the origin of the word "diamond", it still very accurately expresses the outstanding property of this extraordinary gemstone.

Although, to be honest, humanity has exhausted a lot of diamonds, testing them for strength. So, for example, the collection of diamonds of Duke Charles the Bold was destroyed, when the enemy soldiers, robbing the duke's tent, began to check the hardness of the stones, hitting them with heavy clubs.

Due to the high hardness of diamonds, it was not possible to process them for a long time, while the best properties of diamonds appear after cutting. Faceted diamond stones (they are called diamonds) play with light very beautifully, and some even glow in the dark.

But, surprisingly, only about 20% of mined diamonds are used for jewelry, while the remaining 80% are used in industry and microelectronics.

Most often (and more valuable) diamonds are colorless or slightly bluish, although sometimes there are blue, pink, red and green stones.

How much is a diamond

Diamond prices have always been high. Most of the diamonds sold do not exceed one carat in size. Diamonds ranging in size from 1 to 2 carats are already considered large and are valued from $120 to $1500 per 1 carat, depending on the quality. Stones over two carats will cost up to $5,000 per carat. And five-carat diamonds are not just sold - they all have their own names and are sold with an additional margin. Colored diamonds are valued from $600 per 1 carat and have no upper limits of value, since the rarer and larger the stone, the higher its price (each colored diamond is valued individually).

The largest diamonds even got their own names and have their own fascinating history.

But you should be careful - at the present time, a lot of artificial synthetic diamonds are being made (among which, however, there is one very worthy substitute for diamond - this is the precious stone cubic zirconia).