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Diamonds: Natural, Synthetic & Simulated

A Texas woman has just discovered the largest diamond found at Crater of Diamonds in over 2 years ...
Arkansas park visitor finds 3.72-carat yellow diamond

A visitor to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas found a 3.72-carat yellow diamond, the largest diamond found at the park in over two years.

Miranda Hollingshead, 27, of Bogata, Texas, said she was sitting at the base of a hill on the northeast side of the park and watching a YouTube video on her phone about how to find diamonds when she looked down and spotted the gem.

"I shook my hand across it to make sure what it was, picked it up, and yelled across the field to my mom, 'I think I got one!'" Hollingshead said.

The family headed to the park's Diamond Discovery Center, where officials confirmed it was a 3.72-carat yellow diamond. Officials said it was the largest diamond found by a park visitor since March 2017, and the largest yellow diamond found there since October 2013.

Park Interpreter Waymon Cox said recent weather likely contributed to Hollingshead's discovery.

"Much of the ground where Ms. Hollingshead found her diamond is made of unweathered volcanic rock," Cox said.

"When it rains, flowing runoff often leaves loose gravel, and sometimes diamonds, on the surface in these areas. Diamonds have a brilliant, adamantine luster that makes them easy to spot, and Ms. Hollingshead happened to be sitting in just the right place to see the diamond sparkle in the sun," he said. ...
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/0...finds-372-carat-yellow-diamond/5321566408372/
 
Mph. Bet its not gem quality.

I have found a lot of semi precious stones on Cornish beaches. My favorites are the agates.
 
This recent oddball diamond discovery is the first of its kind ...
Tiny, One-of-a-Kind Diamond Is Trapped ... Inside Another Diamond

It was a gem of a find. A diamond that was recently extracted from a mine in Yakutia, Russia, had a surprise lurking inside: a tiny, second diamond.

The outer diamond measured about 0.2 inches (4.8 millimeters) long, while the wee stowaway spanned about 0.08 inches (2 mm) long and weighed about 0.0001 ounces (0.004 grams). The hidden gem rattled around inside an air pocket at the heart of the larger stone, and Russian experts who examined the peculiar double gem declared it the only known example of a diamond with another diamond inside it ...

This unusual diamond-in-a-diamond drew comparisons to a traditional Russian toy called a matryoshka doll, in which successively smaller wooden dolls are nested inside bigger dolls, representatives with the Russian diamond mining company Alrosa told Live Science in an email. ...

Workers detected the oddball gem while sorting diamonds in Alrosa's Yakutsk Diamond Trade Enterprise in Yakutia, Alrosa representatives said.

"At first, the crystal did not appear to be any different from other crystals, but when examining it in detail, the sorter noticed movement inside," they said.

The sorter photographed the crystal and delivered it to Alrosa's Research and Development Geological Division ...

But for a diamond to naturally form inside another diamond isn't just rare — it's unheard of, said geologist George Harlow, a curator in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

"I have no knowledge of anything like this in the natural mineral world," he told Live Science in an email. (Harlow was not involved in the analysis of the double diamond).
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/double-diamond-siberia.html
 
New research indicates diamonds similar to the two most famous large ones (the Hope and Cullinan diamonds) formed much deeper than previously believed - in the earth's lower mantle.
Hope diamond formed stunningly close to Earth's core

Two of the world's most famous diamonds may have originated super deep below Earth's surface, near the planet's core.

All of Earth's natural diamonds first form deep underground from our perspective on the surface. But from the perspective of this planet's great bulk, their usual births occur relatively far from the core. Zest the Earth like a lemon, and you'd uncover diamonds growing at the bottoms of tectonic plates. Those diamonds form about 90 to 125 miles (150 to 200 kilometers) deep, under pressure that exists just where the crust meets the more fluid outer mantle, or middle layer of the planet. No mines reach that far underground, but some of those diamonds do make their way up to where humans can reach them.

The "Hope" diamond, a large and famous stone, as well as the "Cullinan" diamond, the largest rough gemstone ever found, are different. They're "super deep" stones, new research confirms. A 2018 paper showed that these boron-blue gemstones likely originated somewhere in the planet's hot "mantle," a region between the crust and the liquid outer core of the planet, Live Science previously reported This new research shows that, at least sometimes, the stones form deep in this hot zone. ...

The research presented today (June 24) at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference, finds remnants of a mineral called bridgmanite in two less famous diamonds of the same types as the famous gemstones. ...

Bridgmanite is a very common mineral inside Earth, but it doesn't form in the crust or even the upper mantle. ...

... "Finding these minerals trapped in a diamond means that the diamond itself must have crystallized at a depth where bridgmanite exists, very deep within the Earth."

This discovery, the researchers said, suggests both large blue stones originated in the lower mantle, a fluid zone extending from 410 miles (660 km) deep all the way to the planet's liquid outer core. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/hope-cullinan-diamonds-deep-origins.html

See Also:
https://scitechdaily.com/hope-diamo...-may-be-from-super-deep-in-the-earths-mantle/
 
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A visitor to the Arkansas diamond park has found the largest diamond discovered so far this year - a 2.23 carat brown specimen ...
Crater of Diamonds visitor finds 2.23-carat brown diamond in the dirt

An Arkansas woman visiting the state's Crater of Diamonds State Park found a 2.23-carat brown diamond -- the largest discovery at the park this year.

Arkansas State Parks said Mena resident Beatrice Watkins, 56, was sifting the soil at the Murfreesboro park with her daughter and granddaughters this month when she came across the gem. ...

"I thought it was shiny but had no idea it was a diamond!" Watkins said. "My daughter googled similar-looking stones and thought it might have been iron pyrite, so I stuck it in my sack and kept sifting."

The family took their discoveries to the park's Diamond Discovery Center while taking a break about an hour later and Watkins discovered the "iron pyrite" was actually a 2.23-carat brown diamond.

"I was so excited, I just couldn't believe it," Watkins said. "I still can't believe it."

Park officials said Watkins' diamond, dubbed the Lady Beatrice Diamond, is the largest diamond found at the park since the discovery of a 3.29-carat brown diamond in October 2019.

"Ms. Watkins's diamond is about the size of an English pea, with an oblong shape and a metallic luster," Park Interpreter Waymon Cox said. "The surface is smooth and rounded, a characteristic shared by most Crater diamonds. It has a dark brown shade similar to iced tea." ...

SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...arat-brown-diamond-in-the-dirt/8841593191901/
 
Mph. Bet its not gem quality.

I have found a lot of semi precious stones on Cornish beaches. My favorites are the agates.

I am very fond of moss agates.
 
I was on my arse financially speaking when I found a diamond on a car park in Burton on Trent .. it was twinkling, I picked it up then walked to a house where I could scratch it down some glass to test whether it really was a diamond. It made a scratch in the glass so it definitely was! ..

I wrapped it in some tissue paper and a decade later gifted if to the Mrs in the vain hope that she might marry me .. she won't .. then her Mum got wind of it and had it tested!! .. turned out it wasn't an earth 'blood' diamond so it was fairly worthless ..

I was embarrassed about the whole situation so I gave it to a mate to give to his Son instead .. I didn't think she'd even care but she did .. BIG TIME .. tears, the lot, so my mate gave it back to me and she's got it again. Phew! ..
 
Isn't it a myth that only diamonds scratch glass, in that even glass can scratch glass, among other materials?
 
Isn't it a myth that only diamonds scratch glass, in that even glass can scratch glass, among other materials?

It's true that a real diamond will scratch real glass. However, other shiny stones or materials (including some common pseudo-diamond gems) will also scratch glass. If it doesn't scratch glass, it isn't a diamond. If it does scratch glass, it may or may not be a diamond.

There are other tests that can be done to verify whether something may be or is almost certainly not a real diamond. However, each one of these other tests has "ifs, ands or buts" that prevent it from being 100% definitive in all possible cases.

https://www.diamonds.pro/education/how-to-tell-if-diamonds-are-real/
https://www.ritani.com/blog/diamonds/7-ways-spot-fake-diamonds/
https://www.livescience.com/29172-how-to-test-a-diamond.html
 
I notice that a couple of the previous contributions to this thread talk about the engagement rings that they kept but they didn’t go on to get married. I thought that the general rule was that the bloke got the engagement ring back if they didn’t subsequently go on to get officially hitched!
 
Glass is pretty soft on Mohs scale yes?

So most minerals, -such as quartz (7) will scratch it.
 
Glass is pretty soft on Mohs scale yes?
So most minerals, -such as quartz (7) will scratch it.

It's in the middle of the range, depending on the type of glass. Most of the comparisons with diamonds cite the value as 5 or 5.5.

This geology.com article states common glass objects can vary between 4 and 7 (i.e., a reasonable median around 5.5).

https://geology.com/minerals/mohs-hardness-scale.shtml
 
Meanwhile, the latest Arkansas Crater of Diamonds news ... A visitor has found the second-largest diamond ever discovered at the park (9.07 carats).
Visitor finds second largest diamond in Crater of Diamonds history

visitor to Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park unearthed a 9.07-carat gem -- the second-largest diamond discovery in the park's history.

Arkansas State Parks said Kevin Kinard, 33, of Maumelle, Ark., was visiting the park with friends on Labor Day when he came across a marble-sized crystal with a rounded, dimpled shape.

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"It kind of looked interesting and shiny, so I put it in my bag and kept searching. I just thought it might've been glass," Kinard said.

Kinard said he didn't think any of his discoveries would turn out to be valuable, but he decided to have them checked by staff at the Diamond Discovery Center because his friends wanted to have their finds examined.

"I almost didn't have them check my finds, because I didn't think I had found anything. My friend had hers checked, though, so I went ahead and had them check mine, too," he recalled.

The employee going through Kinard's discoveries took the marble-sized crystal into the office for further examination, and a few minutes later Kinard was brought into the office and told he had found a 9.07-carat diamond. ...

Officials said Kinard's discovery is the second-largest to be found since Crater of Diamonds became a state park in 1972. It is second only to a 16.37-carat white Amarillo Starlight diamond found at the park in August 1975. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...-in-Crater-of-Diamonds-history/7901600963288/
 
Another visitor at the Crater of Diamonds park in Arkansas has found a sizable gem ...
Arkansas man unearths 4.49-carat gem at Crater of Diamonds

An Arkansas man visited the state's Crater of Diamonds State Park and discovered a 4.49-carat sparkling, canary yellow diamond ...

Steven McCool, of Fayetteville, said he had decided to spend the day at the park since recent rains had made for optimal diamond-hunting conditions, and he was on his 11th sifting bucket of the day when he spotted something just 30 minutes before the park closed. ...

"As my eyes were panning to it, I was thinking it could be an amber piece of glass like an old Coke bottle," McCool said. "Once I focused on it though, I knew it was a diamond. I was like 'No way! No way!'"

McCool took his discovery to the diamond identification table, where his suspicions were proved correct.

"Mr. McCool's find is a 4.49-carat sparkling, canary yellow diamond that is about the size of a jellybean and seems to have great clarity. It is a stunning diamond," Crater of Diamonds State Park Assistant Superintendent Meghan Moore said. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/1...arat-gem-at-Crater-of-Diamonds/1091604591252/
 
In case you've wondered how diamond-encrusted a diamond ring can be ...
Jeweler breaks record with 12,638 diamonds set in one ring

A jeweler in India broke a Guinness World Records when he set 12,638 diamonds in a single ring.

Harshit Bansal, founder of Renani Jewels in Meerut, said he was studying jewelry design in Surat in 2018 when he started considering attempting the Guinness record for most diamonds set in one ring. ...

Bansal's company has now unveiled the Marigold, also known as the "Ring of Prosperity," which features thousands of natural diamonds.

"My target was always more than 10,000 diamonds. ... ," Bansal said.

Guinness certified the ring as a record-breaker when the diamonds were officially counted at 12,638. The previous record was a ring from India's Hallmark Jewellers with 7,801 diamonds.

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/0...12638-diamonds-set-in-one-ring/2041609863413/
 
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I think that is what they like in India.

Shame, as they have good taste in other arts
 
To my mind, diamonds are something you cut things with.
Yeah, they're not particularly attractive in and of themselves. They have more use industrially than aesthetically.
Mind you, that doesn't stop jewellers from covering every surface in diamonds (an approach that I think isn't all that creative).
 
Yeah, they're not particularly attractive in and of themselves. They have more use industrially than aesthetically.
Mind you, that doesn't stop jewellers from covering every surface in diamonds (an approach that I think isn't all that creative).
Oh come on, diamond encrusted tat is classy haha

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The largest diamond found so far in 2021 at Crater of Diamonds was discovered by a young Washington state man who's spent years personally mining the original materials from which he can create an engagement ring for his future wife.

It's not clear whether - or to what extent - he's invested a similar degree of effort in locating the future wife.
Crater of Diamonds visitor makes 2.2-carat discovery

A Washington state man's three days of searching at Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park paid off when he uncovered a 2.2-carat yellow diamond.

Christian Liden, 26, of Poulsbo, Wash., said he has been on a longtime quest to find raw materials to make his own engagement ring, and he came to Crater of Diamonds after five years of panning for enough gold in Washington to make the band. ...

Liden said he and a friend had been searching the park for three days when he made a big discovery May 9. ...

He took the gem to the park's Diamond Discovery Center, where it was identified as a 2.2-carat yellow diamond, the largest discovery at the park since a 4.49-carat yellow diamond was found in October 2020. ...

"Mr. Liden's diamond is light yellow, with a triangular shape and a sparkling, metallic luster. Like most diamonds from the park, it contains a few inclusions, making it one-of-a-kind," said Dru Edmonds, the park's assistant superintendent.

"As beautiful as this diamond is, I think the best part is the story behind it," Edmonds said. "Since the eighth grade, Mr. Liden has dreamed of creating a special ring for his future wife, with stones and gold he mined, himself. ..."
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/0...Christian-Liden-yellow-diamond/7781622143938/
 
The largest diamond found so far in 2021 at Crater of Diamonds was discovered by a young Washington state man who's spent years personally mining the original materials from which he can create an engagement ring for his future wife.

It's not clear whether - or to what extent - he's invested a similar degree of effort in locating the future wife.

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/0...Christian-Liden-yellow-diamond/7781622143938/
No problem with finding a wife now his pic is all over the place. He's only 26, so he has plenty of time.
 
The largest diamond found so far in 2021 at Crater of Diamonds was discovered by a young Washington state man who's spent years personally mining the original materials from which he can create an engagement ring for his future wife.

It's not clear whether - or to what extent - he's invested a similar degree of effort in locating the future wife.

FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/0...Christian-Liden-yellow-diamond/7781622143938/
Can somebody tell me what this 'crater of diamonds' is? If its rich in diamonds why hasnt someone mined it? can anyone search for diamonds there?
 
No problem with finding a wife now his pic is all over the place. He's only 26, so he has plenty of time.
Mind you... he may get a fiancée who will go as far as getting the ring, then ditch him.
 
I thought it waa illegal to remove anything from a state park
This is a special case. The Crater of Diamonds was operated as a commercial mining site and a privately owned tourist attraction through most of the 20th century before the state bought the property and made it a park. There was no original natural state of the property to preserve and protect by the time the state purchased the place.
 
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