Black Diamond Rings

Black Diamond History

“Carbonados” the Portuguese christened these black stones in the mid eighteenth century. The word itself means carbonized or burned. We know them as black diamonds and they are found quite exclusively in the Central African Republic and in Brazil. Black diamonds are an anomaly in the universe of diamonds in many ways. Black diamonds, like all diamonds of color, are called “Fancies”. That, and the fact that they are rated at 10 on the Moh’s Scale of hardness, is where the similarity ends. Even the origin of black diamonds is subject to different theories:

1. Unlike other diamonds, black diamonds have no mantle driven inclusions.
2. Their carbon isotope value is very low.
3. Black diamonds are porous.
4. Black diamonds are not found in any of the usual diamond fields. In fact, according to Stephen Haggerty of Florida International University and the Brookhaven National Laboratory, out of over the 600 tons of diamonds that have been mined since 1900, not one single black diamond has been recovered from the traditional mining fields.
5. Perhaps the most intriguing theory postulated about the origin of black diamonds is that they are the result of a supernova in outer space – the death of a star.
6. Black diamonds, unlike conventional diamonds, are actually millions of diamonds that have been stuck together, arriving on Earth by hitching a ride on a meteor.
7. Also in contrast to conventional diamonds, which were formed over 3 billion years ago perhaps, 400 miles below Earth’s surface, black diamonds are relative youngsters believed to be only 100 million to a billion years old.
 

Next: Black Diamond Ring Myths

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