RE: diamonds

Cody, This is a very interesting topic. Diamond is a mineral, made up of a single chemical element: Carbon, and is one of the most common ones found in nature. Diamonds are formed deep within the earth's crust, under tremendous temperature and pressure (around 500 psi and 2100 degrees F), where the carbon atoms naturally assemble into a crystal structure as it cools on its way to the surface. Each cell of the crystal (the smallest unit of the structure), has a particular shape, which is repeated millions of times in three dimensions to form the basic shape of the diamond (as with any crystal, like Cubic Zirconium). This shape can also vary, based upon the shape of the crystal's original unit cell seed. Now, the fact that the crystal unit cells have faces, means the crystal has "Cleavage Planes", within it, and can be cut to make what are called "Facets". The "Cutter" simply uses a hammer and special chisel (called a "Knife") to split the gem apart. On the subject of polishing, there are several things one can do to make a diamond appear brighter. One way is to soak it in pickle juice (no kidding!), which you can do at home. One way the pros do it, is to treat then with a resin under high heat and pressure. This fills the cracks and makes the diamond appear clearer. This technique like the one used to fill cracks in car windshields. They also use other things like tin, lead, leather, felt, wood or lucite. More information about Carbon can be found at: www.dendritics.com/el-carbon.htm

More information on diamonds can be found at:

http://www.eyesoftime.com/ssor/crys.html

geology.wisc.edu/~jill/teleport/howcut.html

http://www.knight-hub.com/manmtndense/faqs/rec_craf.htm

http://www.dendritics.com

Have a great day! Keith Little