Diamond book: a perfect gift for you or your loved ones

 

A fascinating book about the world of diamonds, from the mines where they are mined to the most beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Diamond is the hardest known natural substance and one of the oldest geologically speaking. Formed from almost completely pure carbon crystals more than 150 kilometers below the Earth's surface, some of them can date back three billion years!
From ancient times, diamonds with their incomparable brilliance were described as the symbol of luxury and opulence. Until the end of the 19th century, there were only two known sources of supply: India and Brazil. At the end of the 15th century, while Portuguese navigators were inaugurating the maritime routes to these countries, the Jews settled in Lisbon had started cutting and trading diamonds. To escape persecution, many of them settled in Amsterdam, Antwerp and London. However, the diamond trade did not really develop until the end of the 19th century, when the De Beers company began systematic mining in South Africa and then throughout the African continent (Congo, Angola, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Botswana).

 

A historic change has occurred in the last ten years with the Kimberley Process - the United Nations intervening to end diamond-funded wars and sponsoring international controls on rough diamond exports.

 

Diamonds, an ancient history

Timeline

What is a diamond? How is it formed?

Diamond sun, diamond stars: the fabric of the universe
India, Brazil, South Africa and the development of the diamond industry
A century of monopoly: De Beers and the diamond world
The Role of the United Nations

 

The Diamond Countries

Introduction: What is the diamond journey?
From the Arctic to the Desert and the Deep Sea
The Arctic Circle
Africa, the world's largest producer
South America
Australia: the other Kimberley

 

Extraction

Overview of the methods and places of diamond mining
The artisanal method: a long history
The alluvial mine: where medium-sized mining companies find the best gems
Kimberlites, deep underground, and "Indian products
Diamonds in the Sea: Coastal Mining and Seabed Mining

 

The Diamond Trade

How Diamonds are Valued and Sold: The Creation of Value
Traders in Africa and the Middle East
Europe, the New Center of the Diamond Trade

 

The Processing of Rough Diamonds

How to cut a diamond? Zen and the art of cutting
The cuts and their history
The great cutters

 

The evaluation of quality

What determines quality
The work of the GIA (American Gemological Institute), certifying quality

 

The creation of the jewel

A jeweler at work: from design to finished product
The mass market, savior of the diamond industry
Famous jewels and their history
The great collectors

 

Celebrities and Diamonds

Diamond owners - famous or just rich - and the history of their gems

 

Technology and the Future

Scientific and technological uses of diamonds
Artificial Diamonds
Evolution of the diamond industry: new mines, new mining techniq