April Birthstone - the Diamond

April Birthstone - Diamond

The name diamond is derived from the ancient Greek adámas, proper, unalterable, unbreakable, untamed. They were first thought to be mined in the rivers of India many centuries, at least 3,000 but most likely 6,000 years ago.

The most popular use of diamonds in jewelry are as engagement rings. This has been documented in European aristocracy as early as the 15th century. The modern popularity of the diamond owes its credit to the De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., which established the first large scale diamond mines in South Africa in the late 1800's. Through a strong advertising campaign, which began in the 1930's and continued into the mid-20th century, De Beers made diamonds a key part of the betrothal process and a symbol of status and success.

Since the 1870's Diamond mining was centered in Africa but has now expanded to many countries around the world including Canada, Russia, Brazil and Australia which now produce the most carats anualy.

April Birthstone - Brilliant Cut Diamonds

The dispersion of white light into spectral colors is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds. During the twentieth century, gemologists developed a method of grading diamonds based on four characteristics that are the most important to a diamond as a gem, Carat, Cut, Color and Clarity. These are known informally as the Four C's. This method was created by Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in 1953 and has been adopted globally as the diamond grading standard.

There are many lores from many civilizations about diamonds, from tears of the gods, to fallen stars, to invincibility. The one thing they all have in common is that the birthstone for April, the Diamond, brings the wearer great strength.


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April Birthstone - The Queen's Ring
The Queen's Ring
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