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A Stones Journey
The diamond you are about to own has been on quite a journey.
Formed sometime between one and three billion years ago, diamonds are formed in a part of the Earth known as the upper mantle, over 130km below the surface, where the conditions are optimum. The temperature in this zone is a minimum of 1200 degrees Celsius (2200 degrees Fahrenheit), the pressure is 35,000 times that of our atmosphere.
Clearly, at this depth we are unable to extract diamonds as digging so deep is currently impossible, instead we play a long waiting game.
Occasions when diamond bearing rock is lifted to the surface are extremely rare. The odds are it will never happen in our lifetime. Many of the worlds diamond-bearing pipes are believed to have formed (broken the surface) about 70 to 150 million years ago, more specifically in South Africa there are several pipes which have been dated between 60 and 1600 million years ago. According to gemmology experts we are due another one of these massive eruptions soon - sometime during the next few million years.
As these eruptions take place the magma passes through the diamond bearing areas and carries the rocks up to near the surface where they can be mined.
The rapid rise of the stones to the surface is itself no simple feat. Only if the conditions are right will the diamond survive. For instance, if the magma is travelling too slowly, before it can reach the surface the diamonds could either revert to graphite, convert to CO2 or be completely dissolved.
If the stone makes it this far, it is fairly safe. But, due to the perpetual movement of the earth’s continents, the diamond could potentially face another arduous journey carried along by a river to its final resting place on the sea bed. These are secondary deposits and contain much higher quality stones (on average) due to the fact that lesser stones are often destroyed during the journey.
From its discovery, the stone is then transported, processed and cut to perfection, ready to become your treasured possession.
