Diamond
Diamond is the April Birthstone. Most of the modern gem stones had been in use since
ancient times, but diamonds are of recent origin. Even though diamonds
were known to exist in the past, no one knew how it could be cut and
polished. It was only in the 15th century that it was discovered that one
diamond could abrade another, and making use of this discovery lapidaries
were able to cut and polish diamonds. One of the first sources of
diamonds was India, but was later replaced by countries from the African
Continent, such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Angola, Congo,
Sierra Leone etc. Diamonds have also been discovered in Brazil, Russia,
Canada, Australia, and California and Colorado in the US.
Presently not only colorless diamonds, but diamonds of various fancy
colors are being discovered such as different shades of yellow, red, pink,
blue, and green. The price of the diamond varies with the color
saturation and a sparkling diamond with intense color may fetch a higher
price than a corresponding colorless diamond. Due to the popularity of
colored diamonds, colorless diamonds are color treated in the laboratory
to produce the desired color.
Diamond is an allotropic form of Carbon crystallizing in the Isometric
form and having a hardness of 10 in the Mohr's Scale. It is the hardest
substance known and therefore Diamond as a birthstone signifies
endurance.
