How are Diamonds Formed?

When we think of diamonds, we think them worn on the hands of elegant film stars, or glamorous socialites; therefore it is easy to forget the origin of diamonds, which is just as spectacular. With a knowledge of where diamonds come from it makes them seem even more precious, even if it does betray their mystique somewhat.

In fact, diamonds are almost as old as the world itself and they have their origins way back billions of years ago, when the conditions on the planet where much more tumultuous than they were today. It was during these particularly hostile conditions that ore bearing diamonds was thrust up to the surface due to volcanic eruptions.

In fact, since the extreme conditions that brought diamonds to the surface, diamonds can be found in “blue ground”or kimberlite, which is still one of the most prolific sites to find rough diamonds – even billions of years later.

The rarity of a diamond is due to the fact that its formation takes some seriously extreme conditions, and only under intense pressure – between 45 to 65 kilo-bars – and incredibly high temperature – between 900 and 1300°C are diamonds formed. These particular conditions only occur in certain places, i.e. in the lithospheric mantle, beneath the continental plates and beneath meteorite impact sites.

So, next time you slip on that diamond eternity ring or white gold diamond eternity ring, you’ll know that not only is your item of jewellery beautifully rare, but it also has its origins billions of years ago – surely as close to eternity as you can get.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 24th, 2010 at 8:32 am.

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