Diamond is one out of four natural allotropic forms of carbon, (the most common is graphite) In diamond the hydrocarbon-bonds have a  tetraëdic structure. As far as known to man it is the most hard material in nature. Its is also the measurepoint for hardness, diamond is a 10 on the scale of Mohs, There are 2 synthetics that are harder then diamond, Aggregated Carbon Nanorods and ultra hard Fulleriet.

Diamond thanks its name from the greek word Adamas, whitch means "untamable" or "invinceble" reffering to its hardness.

Diamond was allready mentioned by Plinius (23-79 before Christ) Diamonds became populaire before the 5 century BC. in Europe. In this period a greek bronz statue with uncut diamonds was made, Today this statue is located in the Britisch museum in London. Upto the eighteenth century diamond where only found in India, where the and most known historical stones come from. Later in 1714 diamonds where found in Brasil and later also in South-Africa. There are many legends associated with diamonds which also would have magical powers. Diamonds were a symbol of wealth and they are a part of almost all the crown jewels, treasure troves and museum collections. 

Diamond is a transparent crystal with a refractive index of 2.417. In jewelry as it is (sun) light and reflects beautiful broken. Moreover, the shiny polished surface of the diamond stone is not measured by the most rigid material.

Because of the extreme hardness, diamond is applicable for the industry, like cutting, grinding, drilling and polishing.

Diamond is among others found in the lock area south of Luderitz on the coast of Namibia and the adjoining coastal area of South Africa. In these parts diamond are found in a sandlayer several meters below the surface. These areas are closet for anybody who has nothing to do there. A part of the diamonds wash up out of the Atlantique ocean and collected by diamond fishermen, they operate under the licence of "de Beers" a large diamond company, which ownes the worldmonopoly in diamonds. Although countries like the former Soviet Union also became a major diamond producer. The major diamond trading centers are located in London (where De Beers established) and Antwerp (80% of all rough diamonds will go through Antwerp).

Rough diamonds are processed for their beauty to a climax run. After the operation a stone left with an exceptional brilliance and colors that are evaluated on specific creteria, in order to get a price.

The cullinan is the largest uncut diamond found on earth upto now, 3.106carat, it was cut from the largest stone, the Cullinan 1 (530,20 carat) was after cutting for about a century the largest cut diamond. At this moment the largest cut diamond is the Golden Jubilee (545,67carat) that was cut by a Russian master-cutter and in possession of the king of Thailand sinds 1997, he received it because of his 50years on the throne. On the 27th August of 2007 there was published that a diamond 6000 carats was found in South Africa, on the 5th of October fact was published that this is not a diamond at all.

The four C's                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Cut 

-1. Carat, -2. Clarity, -3. Colour, -4. Cut,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 This means the structure of the stone. The form in which the stone is cut is a part of it. The structure relates to the quality of the cutting and the proportions of the grinding form. The essence lies in the right "Relationships" and "refinement" of the polished stone. Among the ratios, we mean the height of the crown, the crown angle, the depth of the pavilion side, mirroring the table, the ratio of the girdle relative to the total depth of the stone. Among the refinement we understand the exact finish of the overall structure. How often is the girdle, the kollet heavy or light, there are symmetry differences between crown and pavilion side facets close to the right of each other, is the kollet exactly in the middle or the table is decentralized? All these things have a direct effect on the play of light in the stone. The structure is all about people as opposed to purity, color and part weight. She is also a major price-determining factor in the four "C", after all, a nice round stone with a weight, flawless and the highest color in a brilliant polished cut looks a capstone. However, if the stone is cut too deep (nail) or shallow (fisheye) than the play of light and death in the stone, the stone is of lower value. In short, the structure is very important because ultimately the most important in the stone reflects late: the brilliance and the colors in full glory.

Carat 

The weight of gems are shown in karaat (1 carat is 0.2 grams) a carat is devided in 100 points and will be expressed into 2 decimales, for instance 0.24 or 24 points, the weight is determined with a scale. 

Clarity

The clarity of a cut diamond,The stone can be both internal and external characteristics. The internal consist mostly of carbon residue that is not fully crystallized his. Or gletsen (internal cracks). They come in many forms but also varying degrees of intensity. Growth lines that build up the rough stone show. There are also external characters such as "Beard" that remains when the stone is cut too hard. They can also "Nijf" behind where the stone is cut close. Both features are shown on the girdle. All these characteristics determen the clarity of the diamond and is devided in diferent catagories: Flawless, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI, Piqué 1, Piqué 2, Piqué 3. The resulting evaluation is done by trained eye of the diamond or in the laboratory with a microscope.

• Internally Flawless IF: Free of inclusions under 10x magnification (small external details tolerated). Quite rare and very expensive
• Very Very Slightly included: VVS: Inclusions and / or external imperfections extremely difficult to locate under 10x magnification.
• Very Slightly included: Inclusions and external U.S. ± imperfections are difficult to locate under 10x magnification.
• Slightly included: SI: Inclusions and external blemishes easy to locate under 10x magnification.
• Imperfect: piq: Inclusions and external blemishes easy to locate under 10x magnification. "Imperfect" but still a fine stone who looks with a magnifying glass to his jewelry?

Color

Color is always subjective. The whiter the color the higher the price. The color is determined by a set of so-called "master stones". This kit evaluated several leading diamond stones of different colors in the highest degree, which is regarded as a standard. The assessment is usually visual (the eye). Nowadays there are electronic ratings possible also.