Uncut Diamonds

Uncut in the Rough

The next time you venture near a jewelry store, notice that the most popular pieces include diamonds. These brilliantly faceted clear jewels started off in a less than desirable state and more than likely resembled rocks and pebbles. Virtually indestructible, these pieces of carbon started out life as uncut diamonds.

A Quick History Lesson

The that are unearthed today actually got their start billions of years ago. Carbon in the Earth s mantle was super heated and pressurized to form chunks of rough, uncut that resembled stones and rocks. Eruptions of magma from the Earth's mantle pushed these uncut through volcanic pipes closer to the surface.

Ancient kings and queens revered uncut and many thought these had special powers and would protect them from harm. They did not see uncut as objects of beauty as there was no technology at the time to transform them into the shiny, cut jewels you know today.

Uncut were rather plentiful in India in the nineteenth century. Once the supply of dwindled, new stores of these rough were found in Brazil. The discovery of ancient volcanic pipes in Africa brought a flurry of diamond fever to the continent. Today, a large majority of the Earth's uncut can still be found in Africa, specifically in the countries of South Africa and Zaire. The famous DeBeers diamond company owns most of the rights to these diamonds.

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