From A Diamond In The Rough...: Part 1

“A prominent Antwerp diamantaire stepped to the microphone at a diamond conference and told an audience of miners, prospectors, and financiers that the entire diamond business rested on two supports- vanity and greed.  Fortunately, he said, the human race could be relied on for a perpetual supply of both.”     - Matthew Hart, Diamond

 

 

     Never buy a diamond ring from a jewelry store.  Yes, that IS what I said.  With a very large research paper on the trade of "blood diamonds" behind me and having the pleasure of knowing individuals on both sides of the diamond trade, it can certainly be said that I know a bit about the diamond industry.  Just ask my wife Mandy!  Jewelry stores are notorious for astronomical prices attached to inferior stones.  And then when a sale rolls around, that's when the crap really fills the display cases!  More on that later.  The diamond consumer has to keep an eye out for foil-backing, filled cracks, color enhancement, prong-hidden flaws, and other techniques to transform a sow's ear into a faux-silk purse.  Incidentally, turn and run if a jeweler refuses to take a diamond out of its setting for you to inspect.  Just sayin'.  As this post is "Part 1" of a diamond buyer's mini-education, I would like to use a portion of my research paper to address the origins of a diamond.

 

Taken from-

Cash for Carats:

The Mysterious Facets of Sierra Leone’s Conflict Diamonds

by

Mickey J. Lollar

 

 

     The word “diamond” comes from the Greek word “adamas”, which means “unbreakable”.  A diamond is a mineral that is the carbon element in crystalline form.  The carbon atoms are arranged in diamond material in such a way that they form a three-dimensional lattice pattern.  This interlocking lattice structure has strong bonds along all boundaries, thus making a diamond the hardest substance of natural origin.

     Beneath the Earth’s surface, extending approximately 90 to 120 miles, diamonds are formed in eclogite and peridotite.  There, underneath the superficial continents, temperatures exceed 1650° Fahrenheit, with pressures exceeding 45,000 times the normal pressure at sea-level.  After remaining in those conditions for millions of years, turbulent instability within the earth forces the diamonds and accompanying magma to the surface.  As the material moves towards the surface, it leaves a tunnel known as a “pipe”.  Igneous kimberlite and/or lamproite are the host rocks for any diamonds that have remained in the “pipes” after a surface eruption.  After the diamonds are deposited on the Earth’s surface, erosion carries the stones to neighboring streams, rivers, and, sometimes, the ocean.  “Alluvial deposits” are those found when diamond material makes its way to streams and rivers and represent the area where the highest quality diamonds are found due to their survival in abrasive conditions. 

 

     Though I have been slightly under the weather, and will tweak and add more tomorrow, the lines between the world of diamonds and the Public History website that I am currently constructing are obvious.  Just as a lapidary takes a piece of rough material and works it into something sought-after, so too am I to transform raw information into an aesthetically pleasing and informatively transparent website for the public.  On that front, I declare, "so far, so good."  I have found all of the raw information that I need and am presently faceting it into appropriate parcels for consumption.  Currently I am sorting all of the "Historical Landscaping of Colonial Williamsburg" information into physical piles, according to subject and placement on the website itself.  As done with certain genres of writing,  I am basically creating the website in our dining room!  You should see it when I write a mystery.  Clothes-lines!  Fortunately, Mandy is used to my creative creativity.  In the end?  Of course!  Polish it up!  But, that's a bit of time away however.  Please check back later, as this entry was written to fulfill an assignment requirement concerning progress, but not to my standards due to a weary mind and body.  Thank you.