Diamonds: A Girls Best Friend

Diamonds are April’s birthstone so what better time than now to highlight this extraordinary gemstone. Diamonds were first recognized and mined in India. The first known reference to diamonds was in a Sanskrit manuscript that was dated somewhere between 320-296 B.C.

The largest diamond that has ever been found is the Cullinan Diamond weighing in at 3106.75 carats. This diamond was eventually cut into 105 different diamonds; the largest and most famous being the Star of Africa weighing in at over 530 carats.

Today the Star of Africa can be found with the rest of the crown jewels in the sceptre with the cross.

Diamonds can be any color, the most popular being “clear” but the rarest being pink or blue. A popular example of this is the Hope Diamond.

This diamond is a vibrant blue color and is 45.52 carats. It is housed at the Smithsonian National Museum and is supposedly a “cursed” diamond. Amongst many of the owners were Louis XV and his wife Marie Antoinette who had the diamond stolen from them and were killed shortly after.

Diamonds can come in different shapes or more properly known as cuts. For some examples of different cuts we look no further than the collection of diamonds that Elizabeth Taylor owned.

This diamond is the famous Krupp Diamond that Richard Burton gave to Elizabeth Taylor. It is 33.19 carats and is an asscher cut. She wore this ring nearly every day.

Another one of her diamonds was named the Taylor-Burton Diamond. This 69.42 carat pear shaped diamond was mounted on a pendant and was another one of Richard Burton’s gifts to Elizabeth Taylor.

Perhaps one of the most uncommon diamond cuts is the heart shaped diamond. This diamond was referred to the Taj Mahal Diamond and was given to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton on her 40^th birthday.