Did You Know?

The youngest diamond is 900 million years old and the oldest is 4 billion years old.

The world’s largest gem quality diamond, the Cullinan, was found in South Africa in 1905. Uncut, it weighed 3,106 carats (approximately the size of an ostrich egg).

Diamond is the hardest natural substance known to man. It is 58 times harder than the next hardest mineral on earth.

Diamonds are formed under extreme heat and pressure deep within the earth’s crust, and come to the earth’s surface through volcanic eruptions that formed kimberlites and lamproites that host diamonds.

Approximately $9 billion worth of diamonds a year come from African countries, with Botswana being the world’s biggest producer of diamonds.

An estimated 65% of the world’s future diamond supply is expected to come from African countries.

An estimated 10 million people globally are directly or indirectly supported by the diamond industry.

Conflict diamonds as a percentage of all rough diamonds traded have been reduced from approximately 4% to considerably less than 1% since the implementation of the Kimberley Process in 2003.

Diamonds exist in all colors - the rarest of all colors is red.

The word ‘diamond’ comes from the Greek term ‘adamas’, meaning unconquerable or invincible.

The word ‘carat’ comes from the carob tree whose seed was used for centuries as the standard for weighing precious stones.

The custom of wearing a diamond ring on the fourth finger of the left hand comes from the ancient Egyptians, who believed that the Vena Amoris (“vein of love”) runs directly from this finger to the heart.