Discover the Sparkle: Top 12 Fascinating and Fun Facts About Diamonds

1. Underdog Transformation

Forget "Cinderella": diamonds are the real underdogs that have made a truly "pressurized" transformation from rags to riches without the help of a fairy godmother! Behold the truth: diamonds actually form deep beneath the Earth's surface from carbon under extreme pressure and temperature, with some even containing inclusions that may have originated from humble organic matter like coal or tiny organisms.
Source => blogs.scientificamerican.com

2. Earth's Undercover Diamonds

Diamonds might be a girl's best friend, but they're also Earth's undercover operatives: researchers have discovered that under extreme conditions, the combination of iron, carbon, and water in the core-mantle boundary can form diamonds, explaining why the Earth's mantle has three to five times more carbon than expected and shedding light on the existence of ultra low velocity zones and giant mantle blobs under Africa and the Pacific Ocean.
Source => space.com

Did you know that amethyst, the gemstone often found in royal crowns, was believed to cure insomnia and prevent nightmares when placed under one's pillow? Discover more surprising uses of this stunning gemstone!

=> Fun Facts about Gemstones

3. Chuck Norris of Carbon

Diamonds are like the Chuck Norris of the carbon family, knocking out their softer sibling graphite with their unbreakable bonds and rock-solid skills: As the hardest naturally occurring substance, diamonds boast a covalent lattice structure with carbon atoms firmly bonding to four neighbors, contrasting with graphite's weak and slippery layers held meekly together by dispersion forces.
Source => chemistryvce.weebly.com

4. Tectonic Plate Gossip Queens

Diamonds: ancient Earth's chatty little gossip queens, spilling the tea on tectonic plate drama from billions of years ago: Nitrogen trapped in these blabber-crystals from the Witwatersrand Supergroup in South Africa revealed that tectonic plate movements were already making headlines 3.5 billion years ago, giving scientists some juicy geological insights into our planet's early tantrums.
Source => earthsky.org

5. Sparkling Résumé Fibs

Diamonds may strut around like peacocks, flaunting their glamorous, rainbow-colored sparkles, but the truth is, they've been caught embellishing their résumé: In reality, genuine diamonds only sparkle in shades of white and gray, and the "fire" that bursts with color under direct light is due to the stone's cut and not the stone itself. Synthetic diamonds may try to mimic this sparkle show, but they'll never quite measure up to the breathtaking brilliance of the real deal.
Source => estatediamondjewelry.com

6. Diamond Superheroes vs. Cancer

Thought diamonds were just a girl's best friend? Think again! They've got a superhero alter-ego that's trading bling for a sting in the fight against cancer: Nanodiamond particles have emerged as powerful drug carriers in cancer therapy, significantly increasing treatment efficacy while reducing side effects, thanks to their compatibility with healthy cells, adaptable surface decorations, and ability to overcome drug resistance in cancer cells.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

7. Eureka! Mother of All Diamonds

In a dazzling display that had every onlooker shouting "Eureka!" as if they were in a cartoon gold rush, the mother of all diamonds was unearthed at the turn of the 20th century: The Cullinan diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905, tipped the scales at a whopping 3,106 carats before being sliced and diced into smaller gems, including the Great Star of Africa—a 530-carat shiny behemoth that now rests comfortably among the British Crown Jewels.
Source => shikanagroup.com

8. Cosmic Diamond-Rich Planet

If bling is your thing and you're tired of Earth's meager offerings, consider moving to a distant cosmic rock where "Diamonds Are a Planet's Best Friend": Behold 55 Cancri e, nestled in the Cancer constellation, a celestial gem holding over three times our planet's mass in diamonds! As revealed in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, its surface is wrapped in graphite, with dazzling diamonds peeking through, while a third of its radius boasts a opulent layer of nothing but the glittering treasures.
Source => theglobeandmail.com

9. Hope Diamond's Origin Truth

Much like a high-stakes game of broken telephone with a dazzling payoff, the Hope Diamond's origin story was far from a French Revolution rendezvous with the French Blue diamond's alter ego: In reality, the captivating gem made its debut in the hands of French merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in the 17th century, free from any revolutionary heist associations.
Source => fortunaauction.com

10. Nature's Marvels with Kryptonite

Diamonds: the result of Mother Nature binge-watching a Marvel marathon, becoming inspired by the superheroes, and deciding to create her own indestructible gemstone! Surprise twist: These dazzling earth-born showstoppers, with a record-breaking 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, can actually be shattered, broken, or burned if exposed to extreme heat and pressure – granting them the esteemed status of being the hardest substance on Earth, while still having some kryptonite-like weaknesses.
Source => debeers.com

11. Drills' Best Friend

Diamonds are a drill's best friend, making even the toughest jobs a carat-stroll in the gem park: These sparkly wonders aren't just for adornment, as their unmatched resilience and heat resistance make them invaluable to industries like oil and gas, mining, construction, stone processing, and engineering ceramics – proving once and for all that diamonds truly are more than just a pretty face.
Source => graffdiamond.com

12. Kevlar Vest of Minerals

Diamonds: not just a girl's best friend, but also the Kevlar vest of the mineral world, saving other stones from the sharp jabs of a jealous lover's scratch test: Funnily enough, these sparkly carbon allotropes boast a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, meaning they're the most resilient kids in the rock playground – it takes a diamond to cut a diamond, after all.
Source => chem.libretexts.org