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Lesedi La Rona: The Extraordinary Story of Botswana’s Legendary Diamond
Introduction Few diamonds have captured the imagination of the modern diamond industry as dramatically as Lesedi La Rona. Discovered in Botswana in November 2015, the enormous rough diamond weighed approximately 1,109 carats after recovery and cleaning. At the time of its discovery, it was recognized as the second-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever recovered, surpassed only by the legendary 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905. The scale of Lesedi La Rona was only one part of its importance. The stone was notable for its remarkable transparency, exceptional quality,... Read more...
The Motswedi Diamond: The Extraordinary Story of Botswana’s 2,488-Carat Natural Diamond
The world of diamonds has produced many stones that became famous because of their size, color, history, or exceptional rarity. Yet only a very small number have been large enough to become geological landmarks in their own right. The Motswedi diamond belongs to that extraordinary group. Recovered from the Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana in August 2024, the enormous rough diamond was initially reported at approximately 2,492 carats. Following cleaning, examination, and the loss of small fragments, the stone examined by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) weighed 2,488.32 carats.... Read more...
Enormous Gem-Quality Rough Diamonds: Nature’s Rarest Diamond Discoveries
Introduction Diamonds are among the most remarkable natural materials on Earth, but only a very small proportion of diamonds ever discovered reach a combination of size, quality, transparency, color, and internal purity that can be described as truly exceptional. Within this already rare category exists an even more extraordinary group: enormous gem-quality rough diamonds. These remarkable crystals are valued not simply because they are large, but because they possess the potential to yield exceptional polished diamonds. A very large rough diamond with severe fractures, numerous inclusions, weak crystal structure, or... Read more...
Diamond Fluorescence: Causes, Colors, Grading, and Its Effect on Appearance
Diamond is often evaluated through the familiar four Cs—carat weight, color, clarity, and cut—but another optical characteristic can provide important information about how a diamond interacts with light: fluorescence. Fluorescence is the visible emission of light that occurs when a diamond is exposed to sufficiently energetic radiation, particularly ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It is not a form of color in the conventional sense, nor is it something that can normally be observed under ordinary incandescent or household lighting. Instead, fluorescence is a response of the diamond's atomic structure to specific wavelengths of... Read more...
Matryoshka Diamond from Siberia
The Extraordinary Diamond with Another Diamond Inside Diamonds are celebrated for their beauty, durability, and extraordinary geological history, but very few diamonds display a structure as unusual as the remarkable Siberian stone known as the “Matryoshka” diamond. Discovered in Siberia by Alrosa in 2019, this unusual natural diamond contains a remarkable internal cavity in which a much smaller diamond crystal is completely detached from the surrounding host. The internal diamond is not cemented to the walls, fused to the host, or trapped inside another mineral. Instead, it can move freely... Read more...
Diamond Crystal Structure and Crystal Habit
Diamond is one of the most remarkable crystalline forms of carbon. Its extraordinary hardness, high thermal conductivity, optical properties, chemical stability, and characteristic brilliance all arise from the way carbon atoms are arranged and bonded within the crystal. Although diamond is chemically composed of the single element carbon, the three-dimensional organization of those atoms produces a highly ordered structure with distinctive geometric, mechanical, and physical properties. The crystal structure of diamond is fundamentally different from the layered structure of graphite, even though both materials are composed entirely of carbon. In... Read more...
Thermodynamics of Diamond and Carbon: Phase Stability, Pressure, Temperature, and Extreme Conditions
Introduction Diamond is one of the most remarkable examples of how thermodynamics and atomic structure interact to determine the behavior of a material. Although diamond and graphite are both composed entirely of carbon, they possess dramatically different structures, physical properties, and thermodynamic stability. At ordinary temperatures and pressures, graphite is the stable form of carbon. Diamond, despite having a higher thermodynamic energy under these conditions, remains intact for extremely long periods because the transformation from diamond to graphite requires atoms to overcome a substantial kinetic barrier. This unusual combination of... Read more...
Properties of Diamond: Structure, Physical Characteristics, and Exceptional Performance
Diamond is one of the most remarkable forms of carbon known to science. Its extraordinary combination of hardness, density, thermal conductivity, optical performance, chemical stability, and mechanical strength comes directly from the way its carbon atoms are bonded and arranged within its crystal structure. Although diamond and graphite are both composed entirely of carbon, they behave almost like completely different materials. Diamond is exceptionally hard, rigid, transparent, and thermally conductive, while graphite is comparatively soft, electrically conductive, and capable of allowing its layers to slide across one another. The difference... Read more...
Synthetic Diamonds as Gemstones: How Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Transforming the Jewelry Industry
Synthetic diamonds have developed from a specialized scientific achievement into a significant category within the modern gemstone and jewelry industry. Advances in high-pressure high-temperature technology, chemical vapor deposition, crystal-growth control, cutting, polishing, and post-growth treatment have made it possible to produce diamonds with the optical, physical, and chemical characteristics expected of gemstone-quality material. Today, synthetic diamonds are used extensively as gemstones in engagement rings, wedding bands, earrings, pendants, bracelets, necklaces, fashion jewelry, and other fine jewelry applications. They can be produced in a wide range of colors and sizes, including... Read more...
Thermal Conductivity of Diamond: Why Diamond Is One of the Best Heat Conductors
Diamond is widely recognized for its exceptional hardness, optical brilliance, and chemical stability, but one of its most remarkable physical properties is its ability to conduct heat. In fact, diamond is an extraordinary thermal conductor despite being an electrical insulator. This unusual combination makes diamond fundamentally different from materials such as copper, aluminum, and many other metals that conduct both electricity and heat. The thermal conductivity of diamond is closely related to its crystal structure, bonding, isotopic composition, defects, impurities, grain boundaries, and manufacturing method. High-quality single-crystal diamond can transport... Read more...
Impurities and Inclusions in Diamond: How Atomic Defects Shape Diamond Properties
Diamond is often described as a crystal made entirely of carbon, and that description is fundamentally correct. However, no real diamond is perfectly pure at the atomic level. Natural diamonds and laboratory-grown diamonds contain extremely small amounts of atoms other than carbon, as well as structural irregularities within their crystal lattices. These foreign atoms, defects, and larger trapped materials are collectively responsible for many of the physical, optical, electrical, mechanical, and sometimes even visual characteristics observed in diamond. The presence of impurities does not automatically mean that a diamond is... Read more...
Hardness of Diamond: Understanding Why Diamond Is One of the Hardest Materials Known
Diamond is famous for its exceptional hardness. For centuries, its resistance to scratching has distinguished it from nearly every other naturally occurring mineral. On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, diamond occupies the highest position at 10, making it the hardest mineral on that widely used relative scale. However, the hardness of diamond is considerably more complex than the simple statement that “diamond is the hardest material.” Diamond hardness depends on its atomic structure, crystal quality, purity, defects, grain structure, crystallographic orientation, and method of formation. Natural diamond, high-pressure high-temperature... Read more...
Crystallinity in Diamond: Single-Crystal, Polycrystalline, Microcrystalline, and Nanocrystalline Diamond
Diamond is often discussed in terms of its exceptional hardness, brilliance, durability, and optical transparency, but another fundamental property plays a major role in determining how diamond looks and how it performs: crystallinity. Crystallinity describes the way carbon atoms are organized into a crystal structure and, more specifically, whether a piece of diamond consists of one continuous crystal or many individual crystals, commonly called grains or crystallites. This distinction has major consequences for optical appearance, transparency, toughness, mechanical behavior, thermal performance, surface characteristics, and suitability for particular applications. A diamond... Read more...
Crystallization Inside Liquid Metal: A New Route to Diamond Growth at Atmospheric Pressure
Introduction The production of synthetic diamond has traditionally relied on technologies that recreate, either directly or indirectly, the extreme conditions under which natural diamond forms deep within the Earth. The two best-known industrial approaches are high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) synthesis and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). HPHT uses enormous pressures combined with high temperatures, while CVD grows diamond from a carbon-containing gas under controlled conditions inside a specialized reactor. In 2024, scientists announced a fundamentally different approach to diamond crystallization. Instead of applying extremely high external pressure or growing the material through... Read more...
Ultrasound Cavitation: An Unconventional Route to Synthetic Diamond
Introduction The production of synthetic diamond is generally associated with sophisticated high-pressure, high-temperature equipment, chemical vapor deposition reactors, carefully controlled gases, and highly engineered growth environments. Yet researchers have also investigated a remarkably different approach: using ultrasonic cavitation in an organic liquid to transform graphite into diamond at approximately atmospheric pressure and room temperature. This method, commonly described as ultrasonic cavitation synthesis of diamond, demonstrates how extreme physical conditions can sometimes be generated locally within an otherwise ordinary liquid environment. Instead of maintaining the entire reaction vessel at the enormous... Read more...
Detonation of Explosives: How Extreme Conditions Can Create Nanodiamonds
Diamonds are most commonly associated with geological processes occurring deep within the Earth, where carbon is exposed to immense pressure and elevated temperatures over extraordinarily long periods. Modern materials science, however, has demonstrated that diamond does not necessarily require geological time scales to form. Under carefully controlled industrial conditions, carbon can be transformed into diamond in extremely short periods when it experiences the combination of intense pressure, high temperature, and extremely rapid cooling. One of the most unusual examples of this principle is detonation nanodiamond, a class of synthetic diamond... Read more...
ASEA and the First Synthetic Diamonds: The Secret QUINTUS Project That Changed Diamond History
The Swedish Breakthrough That Came Before the World Knew Synthetic Diamonds Were Possible The history of laboratory-grown diamonds is often associated with General Electric and the celebrated American breakthrough announced in 1955. But the story actually began earlier, in a highly secretive research program in Stockholm, Sweden. Two years before General Electric publicly announced its successful diamond synthesis, engineers and scientists working for the Swedish electrical engineering company ASEA had already succeeded in creating genuine diamond crystals under controlled laboratory conditions. The achievement took place in February 1953 as part... Read more...
The GE Diamond Project: The Historic Breakthrough That Made Synthetic Diamond Production Possible
For centuries, natural diamonds were considered one of the rarest and most extraordinary materials on Earth. Their exceptional hardness, thermal conductivity, optical properties, and crystal structure made them valuable not only as gemstones but also as highly useful industrial materials. Yet one fundamental question fascinated scientists for generations: Could humans create diamond artificially? The challenge was far greater than simply converting carbon into a hard crystal. Diamond is a specific crystalline form of carbon that is thermodynamically favored only under particular combinations of pressure and temperature. Reproducing those conditions reliably... Read more...
High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT): How Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Created
Diamonds have fascinated humanity for centuries because of their extraordinary hardness, brilliance, rarity, and remarkable journey from carbon to gemstone. While natural diamonds form deep within the Earth under extreme geological conditions over immense periods of time, modern technology can recreate many of those fundamental conditions in a highly controlled laboratory environment. One of the most established methods for producing laboratory-grown diamonds is High Pressure, High Temperature, commonly known as HPHT. HPHT technology recreates the combination of intense pressure and extreme heat associated with the natural diamond-forming environment. Instead of... Read more...
Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Necklace Worth Millions Stolen from Vienna Museum
A historic 1939 Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace linked to Egypt’s Queen Nazli has been stolen from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts in a dramatic daytime robbery. A piece of jewelry with royal provenance, more than 200 carats of diamonds, and decades of auction history has disappeared from public view after a brazen theft at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). On August 27, 2026, two men entered the museum during opening hours, reportedly behaving like ordinary visitors before targeting a display case containing a remarkable 1939 Van Cleef... Read more...
GIA and Swiss Lab Confirm New Tourmaline Originates from Ethiopia
Ethiopia is emerging as an increasingly important source of exceptional gemstones, and a newly documented tourmaline discovery is adding another chapter to the country’s growing gemological story. Recent laboratory work by leading gemological institutions has provided evidence supporting an Ethiopian origin for this newly recognized tourmaline material. For the jewelry industry, the discovery is significant not only because of the beauty of the stones themselves, but also because determining a gemstone’s geographic origin can provide valuable information about its geological history, rarity, and position within the international gem trade. A... Read more...
Diamond Industry Takes Stock: Supply Cuts, Tariffs & A Cautious Market Recovery
The global diamond industry is entering the second half of 2026 at a complicated turning point. After several challenging years of falling prices, excess inventory and uncertain consumer demand, parts of the natural diamond market are beginning to show signs of stabilization. However, the recovery is far from uniform. According to the August 2026 Rapaport Intelligence Report, the diamond trade is currently being shaped by four major forces: reduced supply, selective price recovery, tariff uncertainty and uneven consumer demand. For jewelers, manufacturers and diamond buyers, understanding these factors is becoming... Read more...
OFAC Extends Russian Diamond Import Exemption to 2027: What General License 104B Means for the Global Diamond Industry
The global diamond industry has received another year to navigate one of its most complex regulatory transitions. On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License No. 104B, extending the authorization for certain qualifying “grandfathered” Russian-origin diamonds to enter the United States until 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 1, 2027. The new license replaces and supersedes General License No. 104A, which was scheduled to expire on September 1, 2026. The decision is significant for diamond traders, manufacturers, cutters,... Read more...
US Customs Seizes 875 Pieces of Counterfeit Jewelry Worth More Than $3.7 Million
A major counterfeit-jewelry shipment has been intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), highlighting the growing challenge of protecting consumers, brands, and legitimate jewelry businesses from fake merchandise entering the U.S. market. On August 18, 2026, CBP officers at the Indianapolis express consignment facility seized a shipment containing 875 pieces of jewelry. According to CBP, the jewelry would have carried a combined manufacturer’s suggested retail price of more than $3.7 million if the pieces had been genuine. The shipment also contained five designer handbags. The case was subsequently reported... Read more...
The Diamond Market in 2026: What July’s Biggest Industry Developments Really Mean
The Diamond Market in 2026: What July’s Biggest Industry Developments Really Mean
The diamond industry entered the second half of 2026 with an important question: Has the natural diamond market finally found its floor, or is the recent price improvement only a... Read more...
South Korea’s diamond Jewelry Market
South Korea’s diamond Jewelry Market
South Korea’s diamond jewelry market is mature but growing modestly. In 2024 the luxury diamond jewelry market was worth on the order of $2.3–2.5 billion. Historical data (2018–2023) suggest mid-single-digit annual growth, with a... Read more...
The Sale Is the Beginning
The Sale Is the Beginning
Building the Post-Purchase System Gen Z Diamond Buyers Actually Expect The shift in one sentence For generations of jewelers, the sale was the destination. Everything — the window display, the... Read more...
The Kimberley Process
The Kimberley Process
The Institution Behind the Numbers What It Is, How It Works, and Why It's Argued About Every time global rough diamond production figures make headlines, the source is the same:... Read more...
Three Years on Top
Three Years on Top
Russia Leads Global Rough Diamond Production Again and Botswana's Numbers Tell the More Interesting Story Russia has retained its position as the world's leading country by rough-diamond production value in... Read more...
Thirteen Months and Triple the Market
Thirteen Months and Triple the Market
Hong Kong's Hard Luxury Recovery Is No Longer a Rebound Story Hong Kong's hard-luxury sector delivered another strong month in May, and the figures are becoming difficult to characterize as... Read more...
London and Dubai Shake Hands
London and Dubai Shake Hands
What the LDB–DDE Memorandum Really Signals About the Future of Diamond Trading The London Diamond Bourse (LDB) and the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)... Read more...
Volume Up, Value Down Reading Antwerp's 2026
Volume Up, Value Down Reading Antwerp's 2026
The headline, and the trap inside it Antwerp's diamond trade improved in the first half of 2026. Total diamond trading rose 9% year on year to $10.6 billion between January... Read more...
GIA Finally Brings Cut Grades to Fancy Shapes
GIA Finally Brings Cut Grades to Fancy Shapes
Twenty-One Years in the Making and Rewrites the Fluorescence Conversation Two announcements, one theme The Gemological Institute of America has disclosed two changes to its diamond grading reports, and while... Read more...
Three Investigations, One Deadline
Three Investigations, One Deadline
The Colored-Gemstone Trade's Tariff Reckoning The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is running three separate investigations that could produce new tariff regulations by the end of the month — and... Read more...
Nine Months and Counting
Nine Months and Counting
 What June's US Retail Numbers Tell Us — and Why Jewelry Should Be Paying Close Attention US retail sales grew again in June, as the summer shopping season got underway.... Read more...
The Mine That Keeps Breaking Its Own Record
The Mine That Keeps Breaking Its Own Record
 Lucara Recovers a 1,305.4-Carat Diamond at Karowe Lucara Diamond Corp. has recovered a 1,305.4-carat rough diamond at its Karowe mine in Botswana. The company announced the find on Monday, describing... Read more...
When Beauty, Yield, and Price Finally Sit at the Same Table
When Beauty, Yield, and Price Finally Sit at the Same Table
Inside the FCRF–Cutwise Wholesale Pricing Integration The headline, in one breath The Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF) has partnered with Cutwise, the diamond visualization and analytics platform, to launch a... Read more...
Jewelry Tops Global Luxury
Jewelry Tops Global Luxury
 Inside Bain & Altagamma's €1.44 Trillion Verdict on a Market Learning New Rhythms Jewelry was the single best-performing category in global luxury spending in 2025. That is the headline finding... Read more...
Dubai $41.7 Billion Record
Dubai $41.7 Billion Record
How the DMCC Became the World's Diamond Crossroads Dubai has posted an all-time high in both value and volume for its diamond trade in 2025 — the first time the... Read more...
Mother Nature Cooks in a Dirty Kitchen
Mother Nature Cooks in a Dirty Kitchen
 Inside GIA's Colored Stone Origin Science "Mother Nature cooks in a dirty kitchen." The phrase — a favourite in gemmological circles — captures the entire scientific basis for geographic origin... Read more...
Swiss Watch Exports Turn Positive
Swiss Watch Exports Turn Positive
Reading the June Rebound, the France Distortion, and the US Engine Executive summary Swiss watch exports rose 11% year on year to CHF 2.39 billion ($2.95bn) in June, according to... Read more...
50% US Tariffs on Canadian Diamonds and Jewelry
50% US Tariffs on Canadian Diamonds and Jewelry
President Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods entering the United States — and the gem and jewelry trade is directly in scope.... Read more...
De Beers Slides Into the Red
De Beers Slides Into the Red
 Anatomy of a 44% Revenue Collapse and What the Numbers Actually Say De Beers is heading for a negative underlying EBITDA in the first half of 2026 — the first... Read more...
CIBJO Retires Laboratory Grown
CIBJO Retires Laboratory Grown
Inside the Global Pivot to Synthetic and What It Means for the Trade The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) intends to strike the terms "laboratory grown" and "laboratory created" from its... Read more...
US Tariffs Include Diamonds and Gemstones
US Tariffs Include Diamonds and Gemstones
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has closed out one of the broadest trade investigations in recent memory — a Section 301 review covering the forced-labor practices of 60 trading... Read more...
HRD Antwerp
HRD Antwerp
HRD Antwerp Certification for Natural and Lab-Grown Diamonds: The Complete Guide Introduction Every diamond purchase involves a knowledge gap. The seller knows what the stone is; the buyer, looking across... Read more...
The Complete Guide to Pear Shape Diamond Prices (2026)
The Complete Guide to Pear Shape Diamond Prices (2026)
The Complete Guide to Pear Shape Diamond Prices (2026) The definitive buyer's and trade guide to pear-shaped diamond pricing — how value is built, why two identical certificates can carry... Read more...
How is Round Diamond Pricing Works
How is Round Diamond Pricing Works
A buyer's handbook to understanding how diamonds are valued — from the Four Cs and price per carat to wholesale economics, certification, and market cycles. Chapter 1: How Diamond Pricing... Read more...
The Macroeconomics of US Luxury Retail and the Lab-Grown Revolution
The Macroeconomics of US Luxury Retail and the Lab-Grown Revolution
The United States luxury jewelry sector is currently navigating a profound structural transformation, driven by an confluence of changing consumer demographics, the rising prominence of sustainable materials, and the increasing... Read more...
Half-Moon Diamonds
Half-Moon Diamonds
Introduction to the Demilune Diamond Within the highly specialized landscape of the United States gemstone market, the half-moon diamond—also frequently identified in historical and technical literature as the demilune or... Read more...