A girl's best friend. Yet, the diamond is known as the "King Gem". It symbolizes eternal love, purity and faith. The name diamond comes from the Greek word "adamas"  meaning "invincible" - probably a reference to its hardness. It has generally been associated with heroic qualities such as courage and strength. It has also been thought to offer protection. Ironically, diamonds are also said to bring bad luck to those who steal it. This might just be a story put around by those who owned diamonds and wanted to deter thieves. However, over the years a number of diamond thefts have ended in misfortune. The diamond - a pure, essential form of carbon set in a ring, held by a man on his knees - represents commitment, fidelity and the beauty of matrimony. 

 The ancient Hindus called the Diamond "Vajra" meaning lightening, both because of the sparks of light thrown off by this gem as well as its invincible strength.  The Diamond is harder than any other substance on earth.  Another name for it was "Agira" which means fire or the sun. In fact there are 14 names counted to be given to a diamond in traditional Hinduism. Diamonds have a long and illustrious history which is described in many ancient texts. The oldest Arab writings on mineralogy (350 BC) describe how Alexander the Great sought the valley of the diamonds: "It lies in the East… and is so deep that human eyes cannot see the bottom."  Tales of diamonds often appeared in early mystic allegories such as Voyages of Sinbad. Roman poets too extolled the mythical qualities of diamonds for their raw power. Damigeron states, "When you have obtained it, it will make you unconquerable by enemies, opponents and evil doers, and over bearing men, for you will be shone terrible in every way."

 The Greeks said that diamonds were the tears of the gods, while the Romans believed them to be splinters of fallen stars. Jewish high priests used diamonds to decide the innocence or guilt of the accused: A stone held before a guilty person dulled and darkened; a stone held before an innocent person glowed with increased brilliance.Today, diamonds remain the most treasured symbol of devotion, honor, and strength.

Darya-I-Nur  is one of the spoils of Persia’s attack on New Delhi in 1739, a flawless, transparent pink stone estimated at 175 carats. It’s the largest gem in the Crown Jewels of Iran and was worn by the former Shah of Iran during his coronation in 1967.

The Hope Diamond  once belonged to France’s King Louis XIV, and has a history of bringing bad luck to many of its owners. The gem is now on display at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C.

Koh-I-Nur, the diamond known as the “Mountain of Light,” dates back to India in 1304. Mogul emperors captured it in the 16th century, but it found its way back home after the breakup of the Persian Empire. Today it’s part of England’s Crown Jewels.

  

   The earliest recognized sources of diamonds were placer deposits east of the Deccan Highlands in India, in the region called Golconda. These deposits produced many large, famous, and high-quality stones, including the fabulous blue Hope Diamond. In the past 2,000 years, these mines produced about 12 million carats of diamonds.

    In 1725, placer deposits of diamonds were discovered in Brazil, and they quickly surpassed India's total production. In the first 150 years, they produced 16 million carats. The kimberlite pipes through which diamonds are delivered from beneath the Earth's crust to the surface were never identified. Indeed, some experts suggest that the diamonds found in Brazil actually weathered from kimberlite pipes in Africa prior to the breakup of the continents and the opening of the Atlantic Ocean roughly 150 million years ago.

   The diamond production of India and Brazil was soon to be dwarfed, however. In December of 1865, Erasmus Jacobs, the 15-year-old son of a farmer found a pretty stone and took it to his home near Colesberg, South Africa. The stone was given to a friend of the family, Schalk Van Neikirk, who discovered it to be a 21-carat yellow diamond, named the Eureka. It sold for £500, five times the cost of a comfortable house in England at the time.

   The Eureka diamond did not attract world-wide attention. But in 1868, a young Griqua tribesman named Swartboy found a pretty stone near the Orange River, and asked Van Neikirk if he would buy the stone. Van Neikirk immediately offered him every head of livestock on his farm: 500 sheep, 10 cows, and a horse. A huge price for a pebble found on the ground, yet Van Neikirk soon sold the 83.5 carat diamond (later named the Star of South Africa) for £11,200, and the world took notice.

    Within weeks, thousands of prospectors from around the world flocked to South Africa in search of diamonds and instant wealth. Within twenty years, South Africa was producing 3 million carats per year of diamonds.