Eternal Love: The Timeless Brilliance of Diamonds

Author: Martina Exnerová

When the representatives of the most well-known and largest company engaged in diamond mining and trade introduced the slogan “diamonds are forever” in 1947, they spoke of the diamond as a symbol of eternal love.

This romantic slogan became even more fitting in 1984 when age measurements of natural diamonds revealed that some are more than three billion years old. These diamonds must have formed and remained deep in the Earth’s mantle for billions of years before being brought to the surface. From the perspective of a human lifetime, they truly symbolise eternity.

The popularity and relative availability of diamonds today (combined with some persistent myths) have led to questions about how rare natural diamonds really are. In terms of the natural quantity of this stone on Earth, diamonds are, for example, relatively rare compared to gold. Although they may actively form deep in the Earth's mantle, it is important to realise that the only natural diamonds available to humankind are those already transported by geophysical processes to the Earth's crust. Their supply is inherently limited, and only a restricted number of deposits can be mined.

Historical diamond mining in India (such as the so-called Golconda diamonds), Indonesia, and Brazil took place in alluvial deposits, meaning that loose stones were obtained from river sediments or other sedimentary deposits. They were extracted from their primary sources by weathering, transported, and mixed with fragments of other rocks, obscuring their origin. In 1867, diamonds were discovered in the alluvial deposits of South Africa along the banks of the Orange River, sparking a diamond rush that led to the crucial discovery of weathered primary

deposits in 1871. The newly identified diamond-bearing igneous rocks became known as kimberlites.

The considerable ongoing expenditure of mining and exploration companies on locating new diamond deposits would be pointless if not for their rarity and thus their value. It should also be noted that most mined diamonds are used as industrial material, and only a small proportion reach the high quality required for jewellery.

So, if you want to own a piece of Earth's unimaginably long history or wish to gift this symbol of eternal love, a piece of diamond jewellery is the perfect choice. You can choose from various sizes (correctly referred to as carat weight) and cuts of this beautiful and durable stone. Perhaps in a piece of jewellery – a ring, a bracelet, a brooch, a pendant, or in a pair of earrings from our shop on Maiselova Street...

Source: GIA (Richardson et al., 1984) (Field et al., 2008)