About 2-3 billion years ago, carbon bearing rock about 100 miles below the earths surface was put under immense pressure and heated up to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. The carbon atoms were forced to rearrange themselves in a crystalline structure and became diamonds. Various elements found their way into these new forms of carbon and created the different diamonds known today: pink, ruby red, yellow and blue. All the diamonds were transported to the surface in molten rock. Mines were dug near the kimberlite structures from where the diamonds emerged.
Diamonds were first mined in India. The Sanskrit word for diamond is vajra, meaning thunderbolt, and indrayudha, meaning Indra’s weapon. The Hindus believed that diamonds represented the power of Indra and put them in the eyes of some of their statues. The earliest evidence of the use of diamonds as drills in India dates back to 400 BC.
In Greece, Plato described diamonds as living creatures, impersonating divine spirits. The Greek word for diamond comes from the words adamas, meaning invincible, and diaphanes, meaning transparent. The Greeks believed that diamonds came from the Valley of Diamonds in Central Asia....