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LIFESTYLES
DIAMONDS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
A raw and uncut gemstone
has neither value nor beauty. It
is the skill of the gem cutter
that brings to the surface the
stone's latent magnificence and
turns to poetry its rough dull
prose. It is their skill that
transforms the crude stone into
a gem of 'purest ray serene’.
- K.Y. Padmanabhan
Diamond Trade
Routes in Ancient
Times
India introduced diamonds to the world. Till 1725, when diamonds were discovered in Brazil, India was the only source of
diamonds. Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist who lived in the first century A.D., included stories brought home by sailors and
merchants of the diamond mines of India in his Natural History. The state of Golconda in the Deccan, founded in 1518, from the fragments
of the former Bahmani Empire, was for centuries a great centre of diamonds. The word Golconda in English became synonymous wi th
great wealth. Many famous diamonds, including the Kohinoor (108 carats) which is today part of the crown of the British monarch , came
from India. Today diamonds are mined in the Panna mines in Madhya Pradesh. India's share in the world's production of diamon ds from
the mines is only 0.015
%.
But India imports rough diamonds and has emerged as the largest manufacturer of polished diamonds in the
world. Diamond is the single largest item accounting for 12% of the total commodity exports from India.
Famous Diamonds of Indian Origin
SI.
So.
Name
Carats Colour
Shape
or Cut
1
.
Great Mogul
280.00 White
Rose Cut
2.
Nizam
277.00 White
Elongated Rose
3.
Orloff
189.00 White
Rose-Cut
4.
Darya-i-Nur
186.00 Pale Pink
Oblong Table
Cut
5.
Taj-e-Mah
146.00 White
Rose Step Cut
6.
Regent
140.50 Yellow
Double Rose
8.
Koh-i-Noor
108.93 White
Oval
9.
Hastings
101.00 -
-
10.
Jacob
100.00
-
-
11.
St§r of the East
100.00
-
Pear
12.
Shah of Persia
99.52 Yellow
Cushion
13.
Golconda
95.40 Golden
Emerald Cut
14.
Briolette of India
90.38 -
Briolette/Step
15.
Shah
88.70 White
Bar Shape
16.
Jahangir
83.00 White
-
17.
Nepal
79.41 White
Pear
18.
Nepal Pink
72.00 Pink
Cushion
19.
Akbar Shah
71.70 White
Drop
20.
Idol's eye
70.20 Sky blue
Near Heart-
shape
21.
Black Orloff
67.50 Gun metal
Cushion
22.
Nur-ul-Ain
60.00 Pink
-
23.
Sancy (Astor)
55.00 White
Pear
24.
Iranian XIX
54.58 White
Oval Mogul
25.
Iranian XX
54.35 Peach
Cushion
26.
Iranian XXII
51.90 White
Mogul Cut
27.
Empress Eugenie
51.00 White
Oval
28.
Grand Conde
50.00 Pink
Pear
29.
Indore Pears
50.00 -
Two Pears
Quotations
*
Nothing is harder than a diamond except
making payments on one.
*
It pays to be an idealist when you pur-
chase a diamond.
*
Here is a unique craft that has an artistic
flair, one which is steeped in antiquity,
mystery and romance and surrounded by
an ever- increasing accumulation of sci-
entific data. One which shows a lot of
individuality and rarely even are two
gems cut identically.
Ray W. Dement
*
Power, like the diamond, dazzles the
beholder.
*
There is nothing more revealing than a
naked diamond and the diamond you buy
should have nothing to hide.
Properties of diamond
Hardness - 10; Specific Gravity - 3.52,
Crystal structure - Cubic; Atom Bonding -
Tight; Colour- Colourless to yellow, also
brown, orange, black and red; Streak -
*
Colourless to yellow; Lustre - Adamanture.
Qualities
*
The beauty of diamond as a gem is based
on a combination of very high refractive
index and optical dispersion, coupled
with durability which comes out of ex-
treme hardness and chemical inertness.
*
Diamond is the hardest known sub-
stance. It is brittle and will split easily
along a cleavage plane. It can withstand
tremendous heat and pressure.
*
The rarest diamond colours are blue and
pink.
*
Pure perfect diamond is colourless.
*
Diamonds are classified into two cate-
gories, crystals or gemstones used in
jewellery and industrial diamonds.
*
Diamonds are classified into two types;
Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diamonds
contain nitrogen as a major impurity
whereas Type 2 diamonds contain only
traces amounts of nitrogen. Type 1 is
more common, Type 2 diamonds are very
rare.
Proportion is one of the most important
factors for gem diamonds.