The materialistic girls like diamonds. Elizabeth
Taylor said “Big girls need big diamonds.” May West added some humor to her
diamond attitude: “I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me
are the number you get in a diamond.” Having been engaged rather a lot of
times, Zsa Zsa Gabor was asked whether a lady should give back the ring. She
answered: “Of course ‘dahlink,’ but first, you take out all the diamonds.” “A
kiss on a hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a girl’s best
friend,” – says Glee lyrics, and repeating after Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. Girl
by Marilyn Monroe/Madonna, also known as “Sparkling Diamonds from Moulin
Rouge!” “Men grow cold as girls grow old, and
we all lose our charms in the end. But square-cut or pear-shaped, these rocks
don't lose their shape.” True, very true.
On a positive side, we always associating
excellence and greatness with diamonds. The popular gem is brilliant,
breathtaking, and mysterious. The word “diamond” comes from the Greek word
“Adams” and this means “unconquerable and indestructible.” There are fun facts
about diamonds: diamonds weight is measured in carats, not carrots or karats.
The word carat is derived from Keration, the Greek name for the carob tree.
Carat weight became metric: one carat is equivalent to 0.2 grams or o,007
ounces. The largest rough diamond was discovered in 1905, the Cullinan diamond,
in South Africa. It weighs was a phenomenon at 3,106 carats (ct.)! Two largest
legendary diamonds, the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa, are
part of the crown jewels of Great Britain.
Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. Blue,
green, brown, orange, pink and red are the rarest; pale yellow to colorless are
the most common. Diamonds were used to engrave gemstones in India by 300 BCE,
followed by Brazil. In 2014, Russia produced the most diamonds by volume and
value. The United States buys more than forty percent of the world’s gem
quality diamonds – making it as the world’s largest diamond market.
Since ancient times, diamonds have been admired
objects of desire. Formed one hundred miles beneath the Earth’s surface over a
billion years ago, diamonds are the hardest gem of all. Diamonds are the
hardest natural substance on Earth. Diamonds have a long history of folklore;
some of which say diamonds were created when bolts of lightning struck rocks,
and others said the gem possessed healing powers. Greek historian Pliny wrote
that “diamond baffles poison, keep of insanity and dispels vain fears.” The
ancient Greeks believed that diamonds were slinters of stars fallen from sky on
the earth. Romans believed that diamonds had the power to ward off evil and
wore them as talismans. This believe comes from Indian mythology as well.
For centuries, diamonds have been adorned by women
and men and regarded as the ultimate gift and a symbol of eternal love. The
earliest record of a man giving diamond to a woman, comes from 1477, when the
Archduke of Austria gave a diamond to Mary of Burgundy. Today, diamonds are
still admired all around the world. Until the middle of the twentieth century,
there was no standard by which diamonds could be evaluated. The Gemological
Institute of America (GIA) provided and now is globally accepted the standard
for describing diamonds: color, clarity, cut, and carat weight. Today, the rule
of ‘4C’s of Diamond Quality’ standard is the universal method for assessing the
quality of any diamond, anywhere in the world.
Recommended list for reading and discussion:
Ethan,
Eric. (2011) Diamonds. – Gareth
Stevens Publishers. – 24 pages. (Gems: Nature’s Jewels)
Fishman, Joshua. (2014) Beyond the Four C’s: What You Should REALLY Know Before
You Buy a Diamond.
– CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. –
138 pages.
Shigley, James E. (2008) Gems and Gemology in Review: Treated Diamonds. – GIA. –
301
pages.
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