Diamond – what’s in a name?

Because of their strength, diamonds were initially used for engraving other gems and drilling holes in hard stone beads.

Diamonds were born about 3.4 billion years ago. It only became available to man through volcanic eruption about 70 million years ago. Only half the diamonds mined are of gem quality – and even fewer are large enough to be polished into a sparkling diamond for jewellery.

In Greek mythology, diamonds were said to be tears of the Gods. In France in the thirteenth century only the king could wear diamonds. They were not used as jewellery in Europe until the late 13th century. The Romans inherited the belief from Indian mythology that diamonds had the power to ward off evil and wore diamonds as talismans.

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