When most people look at a diamond, they see a glimmering, expensive and beautiful stone associated with marriage. Diamonds and fine jewels have been used as a symbol of status, love, commitment, and wealth for generations. Having spent most of my life and career in the diamond business, I like to think I see diamonds differently.

When I look at a diamond, I see a miracle with billions of years of history, shaped by our planet and patience into something magical that fits in the palm of your hand. I see a precious stone that possesses a powerful, spiritual energy with deep cultural significance. After a recent trip to Guatemala, I believe I’ve found a way to tap into their energy for the benefit of our society and future.

While in Guatemala, I met Juan Fermín Rodríguez, the CEO of Kingo Solar, and his CFO, JJ Estrada. His team and company operate under the core belief that access to electricity is a basic human right. His company provides prepaid solar energy to people living off-grid who would otherwise rely on candles and kerosene to light their home.

Since starting in 2013, they have brought energy to 16,500 homes, and in doing so, have created new opportunities for the people who inhabit them to develop their skills and knowledge of the world.

His goal is to bring power to 1,000,000 homes using solar energy by 2020.

Speaking to him, and learning more about Kingo Solar’s noble mission and purpose, I began to think about my own values and the core beliefs of my company and had a bit of a revelation. An idea that had been percolating deep down for a long time, finally coming to the surface under the right conditions.

Just because someone can’t afford a diamond doesn’t mean their life can’t be changed by one.

At Golkonda, we’re passionate about pairing premium, ethically sourced diamonds with expert craftsmanship to create unique pieces of jewelry. I can see now that our goal isn’t just to sell diamonds, but to spread the love, share the wealth, and commit to transforming our planet into a better place for everyone. A sustainable place with an elevated sense of social consciousness.

So Juan, JJ, and I spoke, and we came up with a plan that will help harness the energy and light of diamonds to actually bring light into people’s homes and give them electricity for the first time. Golkonda has formed an alliance with Kingo Solar to help achieve their goal of bringing light and connectivity into 1,000,000 homes in Guatemala by using solar energy.

For every purchase of our Sunrise ring, inspired by the bounty of the sun and the energy it emits, we will bring solar power to an entire family and help a region of indigenous people access electricity.

• Golkonda
• Golkonda
• Golkonda

“Constellation” and “Drop” are two other pieces in our collection that will help provide power and energy to homes in Guatemala with every purchase. We’ve also created the “Conscious Crown” to raise money for the Red Cross and further our vision of using the energy and status of fine jewels as a way of elevating social consciousness.

When I think about how every piece of diamond jewelry we’ve created will live on for centuries, it helps put things in perspective. Our collection is a gift from the Earth that we are proud to share with the world, and now it’s time for us to give back. For every ring, necklace, bracelet, and earring you buy from Golkonda, we will donate a portion of our profits to a charity or business with a mission aligned with our purpose and vision.

At the airport customs desk, I was asked if my trip was for “business or pleasure.” On my way there, it had honestly been a bit of both. On my way home, however, I realized it was something more. There was a third option that the customs official hadn’t given me and that I had not realized until that moment. Purpose.

Kingo Solar is just the beginning. Together, we can use the immense power of diamonds as a way to empower those in need.

The first diamond engagement ring may have been made in 1477, but it took another 500 years before they became a mainstream part of culture and relationships. While most of these precious stones originally came from India, the supply of diamonds and the retail market for them grew exponentially as a result of newly discovered mines around the world.

With all of this supply, the biggest challenge for the diamond industry was creating a demand to match it. The popularity of diamond rings and jewelry can be attributed to decades of influence from pop culture, or just their sheer beauty and energy, but the undeniable catalyst that created a demand for diamonds started with four simple words: A diamond is forever.

De Beers first started working with the advertising agency D.W. Ayer in the 1940s, and the product of their relationship became one of the most iconic and successful advertising slogans and campaigns of all time.

“A Diamond is Forever” helped catapult the diamond ring onto the finger of millions of women around the world. The slogan was coined in 1948 and part of every De Beers advertisement for over 50 years.

In 1985, the next great diamond campaign was born when a copywriter at Stern Advertising came up with “Every Kiss Begins with Kay.” The five-word slogan and jingle is still used today, thirty-one years later, and has resulted in their client, Kay Jewelers, becoming the number-one jewelry chain in America.

With history lending some evidence that a powerful ad campaign can be a driving force behind diamond sales, the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) approach Mother, a New York based advertising agency, to help them get the “next generation excited about diamonds” in 2016 and beyond.

Will “Real Is Rare. Real is a Diamond” join “A Diamond Is Forever” and “Every Kiss Begins With Kay” as staples of advertising and diamond history?

It’s too soon to tell. You can watch the two “films” below to form your own opinion, and a third one is coming soon. They’re beautifully shot commercials that attempt to tap into the mindset and values of America’s largest, most economically significant demographic. According to the DPA, their “mission is to protect and promote the integrity and reputation of diamonds — and to celebrate them — in all shapes, colors, and sizes.”

Both commercials show a young couple in the wilderness and beauty of nature, which brings up something important. Diamonds are a gift from our planet, so why aren’t we using their value and energy to preserve and protect the natural source responsible for so much beauty? We mine these precious, valuable gems that are billions of years old from the bedrock of the Earth, but I don’t think nearly enough is done to give back to it.

The DPA says that “the Real Is Rare campaign is about something not often found in the modern world — a real connection between two people. Authentic, precious, singular — just like a diamond. Which is why diamonds are the ideal expression of emotional connection and commitment — in all of their infinite variety.”

That’s an admirable goal, but I think the connection we can form has potential to be even stronger by using diamonds to elevate social consciousness and sustainability. For generations, diamonds and fine jewels have been used as a symbol of status, love, commitment, and wealth. At Golkonda New York, our goal is to spread the love, share the wealth, and commit to transforming our planet into a better place for everyone.

Today, diamonds tend to be a symbol of unity and commitment between two people. A physical, tangible object that binds them together for the rest of their lives. 231 years ago, however, an outrageously expensive gift from one king to his mistress divided a nation. Writing about what would become known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, Tallyrand, the future Prime Minister, said “This diamond-necklace business may well rock the throne of France.”

How big does a diamond have to be to merit that kind of response?

The necklace in question was made up of 647 individual diamonds for a combined weight of 2,800 carats. When first constructed by the master jewelers Bohmer and Bassenge in 1771, it was valued (conservatively) at 2 million livres. That’s roughly 1/500th the cost of what France spent on the American Revolution. To put these enormous numbers into perspective, the necklace cost 150% more than what the French spent on the Battle of Yorktown.

Who could have possibly have afforded that kind of bling? Only the King of France, Louis XV. Louis took the throne in 1715 after the death of his father, the far more famous “Sun King” Louis XIV. As if that wasn’t a tough enough act to follow, it didn’t help that the new king was a 5-year-old. Literally.

While his 60-year reign has been characterized by historians as “one of debilitating stagnation,” this “Bourbon King” was prolific on two fronts:

1. His proclivity toward expensive wars
2. His mistresses.

One particular mistress, Jeanne Becu (AKA Madame du Barry) had started out as a prostitute in Paris’ gambling houses but rose to the royal bedchamber by means of her good looks, wit, and well placed connections. We even have an uncanny approximation of her appearance — and the neck this diamond necklace was meant to hang from — as she was sculpted in wax by the young Madame Toussaud.

In 1774, Louis XV’s death by smallpox rocked the court. The newly crowned King and Queen of France began a process of cleaning house at Versailles, and Jeanne Becu was among the first to go. With the king who had commissioned the necklace dead and its intended recipient displaced, Bohmer and Bassenge were in a serious bind.

Facing financial ruin, they reached out to the only potential buyer they could think of: Marie Antoinette, the new Queen of France.

Already famous for her love of luxury, Bohmer poured out his heart and begged for the Queen to take the necklace, threatening to kill himself if she refused. (Note: This is never a strong negotiating tactic). Marie Antoinette responded that she had no want for her “grandfather’s whore’s” hand-me-downs. Or, to put it another way.

With the most valuable piece of jewelry in the world burning a hole in Bohmer and Bassenge’s pockets, there scene was set for some one to take advantage of their desperation.

THE PLOT

In 1781, Jeanne de La Motte was a 25-year-old seamstress in the village of Versailles (very different from the palace). She was also, as she liked to remind people, a descendant of the kings of the previous Valois Dynasty — albeit through an illegitimate child of Henri II.

For a poor girl who dreamed of being a queen, the necklace proved too much of a temptation to ignore. But, how could she, earning only 200 livres a year, possibly afford it?

THE MARK

On paper, the Cardinal Louis De Rohan was very impressive. A prince of the Rohan family, he had served as the Bishop of Strausburg and held a seat on the Academie Francaise. In practice, though, his temperament was a bad match for his profession.

In addition to being a notorious womanizer, while on an assignment in Vienna he drew a great deal of attention to himself by backing a conspiracy to undermine the ruler of Hapsburg Austria, the Empress Maria Theresa, in 1771. Maria Theresa had two very famous Children: her son, Emperor Joseph II and, of course, Marie Antoinette.

Yes, THAT Marie Antoinette.

Just three years later, Louis XV’s death caused the Cardinal’s recall to France and the Princess of Austria’s rise to its throne. When they met face to face at Versailles, the tension gave a whole new meaning to “court drama.”

Desperate to get back into the Queen’s good graces, the Cardinal didn’t ask questions when someone offered to help. A woman claiming to be one of Marie-Antoinette’s confidants promised to be his go-between to the Queen, in exchange for a few favors. This woman, of course, was Jeanne De La Motte. She did not, however, know Marie Antoinette.

To de la Motte’s credit, she HAD tried to meet her, but the Queen refused her invitation because she was too low status. Obviously upset by this not-so-subtle shade throwing, Jeanne’s scheme took a vengeful turn.

As she milked the Cardinal for more “donations,” she began to pass along forged love letters from the Queen. She even arranged for a midnight rendezvous with Marie Antoinette in the forests outside Versailles. The implications of the invitation were obvious. The palace woods were notorious for illicit affairs, and in 1774, one anonymous pamphlet entitled The Breaking of the Dawn, had begun rumors the Queen went there to engage in orgies.

THE SETUP

The Cardinal met the “Queen” — dressed in a simple-yet-scandalous outfit for the times, like the one she was painted in here:

She pressed a rose into his hand, and whispered “You know what this means,” before running into the darkness. The Cardinal, adequately convinced, agreed to Jeanne’s latest instruction from the Queen. Because the King would not let her buy the necklace publicly, the Cardinal would act as an intermediary, offering the jewelers 60,000 livres down and an installment plan to cover the rest. He was so smitten from their secret meeting that he failed to notice two things.

1. The signatures on the documents Jeanne had given him were wrong.
2. He had never met Marie Antoinette, but instead, a local prostitute in disguise.

The jewelers were overjoyed to have the piece off their hands and gave it to Cardinal de Rohan on the spot. The Cardinal proceeded to present the necklace to Jeanne, who promised to give it to the grateful Queen. The necklace was never seen again.

It is rumored that it was broken up within hours and the stones sold at markets as far away as London.

THE FALLOUT

The scheme went unnoticed for several years, until Bohmer appeared at court to demand the rest of the promised payment and an explanation for why she had never worn the necklace. The monarchs were mortified and everything fell apart rapidly after that. The Cardinal de Rohan was arrested in front of the entire court. Jeanne de la Motte was scooped up shortly afterwards and both spent the next few months locked up in the Bastille.

Ironically, that could have been the end of the story. Under the ancien regime’s legal structure, Louis XVI could have locked them away for life with a letter. Instead, the King and Queen were so offended they demanded a public hearing to clear their names and set the record straight. To give you a sense of how well that went, you may notice France doesn’t have a King anymore.

The trial was, to put it lightly, a mess. De La Motte named a number of uninvolved accomplices, including the notorious con man and sorcerer the Count Cagliostro. Rumors of seances and debauchery enflamed all of France. In the end, the Cardinal was found innocent of intentional wrong doing, and de la Motte took the full punishment. She was sentenced to have her chest publicly branded with a “V” for voleuse (thief) and life imprisonment in a nunnery. De la Motte endured the first, but avoided the second — escaping to England dressed as a man just three years later and publishing scathing memoirs before dying under mysterious circumstances in 1791. The damage de la Motte had done, however, was permanent.

The timing could not have been worse. Not only did the story of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace come to light in the middle of terrible economic trouble in France, it also came at the height of certain novel’s popularity, Les Liaisons Dangereuse. In the public imagination, the legal drama just made the monarchs look like out-of-touch caricatures, living lives of luxury and scheming while the people suffered.

Even though the crown had been found innocent of any wrongdoing, the court of public opinion was less kind. The royal family became a laughing stock.

Marie Antoinette, despite her total lack of involvement, became the increasing target of attack, a symbol of what was worst about a self-centered and out of touch aristocracy. Instead of calling her the Queen, people took to calling her the “Austrian Woman” and began spreading harsh rumors, like the persistent myth that she responded to news of widespread starvation with the words “Let them eat cake!”

Anger eventually bubbled over into action. Within three years, the Bastille had been destroyed and the palace of Versailles raided. The King and Queen were made virtual prisoners in Paris. Three years after that, Louis XVI was guillotined. A year later, Marie Antoinette followed him to the scaffold.

Though there were many causes to the French Revolution, the Affair of the Diamond Necklace dealt a damaging blow with long lasting consequences. Despite this period’s polarizing legacy, it has been argued by some scholars that the modern world in which we live owes an inconceivable debt to the decisions, reforms, and struggles of the revolutionary period.

The next time you find yourself eying a piece of jewelry a little outside your price range, remember — every stone can have a big impact.

The only guide you’ll need before you get on your knee

So, you’re in love and want to get married? Congratulations! Now, let’s make sure you get this right. Buying an engagement ring can be an intimidating and unfamiliar process, but with a little planning and research, it can actually be a fun, exciting milestone in your life that leads to a moment you’ll never forget.

That’s where I come in. My name is Vinit, and over the next few minutes, I’m going to share everything you need to know about buying a diamond engagement ring for the first (and last) time.

If you’re wondering why I’m qualified to help you out, it’s not just because diamonds are something I’m deeply passionate about, but they’re also at the heart of my family history.

Before I share 9 things you should know about buying an engagement ring, here are a few quick facts about me:

1. My family has been in the diamond business for generations.
2. We come from a region of India where the first diamonds on Earth were discovered and mined, including some of the rarest, most valuable and beautiful gems in history.
3. I’m the founder and CEO of Golkonda, a boutique online diamond company that also has a physical location on 5th avenue in New York.

Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s help you buy a ring.

1. Know your Cs

The 4 Cs are cut, clarity, color, and carat, and they’re the baseline knowledge everyone buying a diamond should have. When you walk into the store or start doing more research online, the 4 Cs are likely the first thing that will come up.

CUT

The first “brilliant cut” diamond had 17 facets and dates back to the 17th century. After centuries of experimentation and innovation, the “modern brilliant cut” was introduced in the early 1900’s with 58 facets.

The best possible grade a cut can receive is excellent, and from there the scale moves down to very good, good, fair, and poor. These grades are determined by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the foremost authority in diamonds with a mission to “ensure the public trust in gems and jewelry by upholding the highest standards of integrity, academics, science, and professionalism through education, research, laboratory services, and instrument development.”

Here’s a side-by-side example of an excellent (left) and poor (right) cut diamond.

The way a diamond is cut has the biggest effect on its appearance, so it’s considered to be one of the most important characteristics of a diamond. Optimizing the number of facets is critical when calculating the light paths in a gem. The overall grade of a cut is determined by three key factors: brilliance, dispersion, and scintillation.

• Light that is reflected off the surface of a diamond is known as brilliance.
• Light that enters a diamond and is refracted to create the spectral flashes of color is referred to as dispersion or fire.
• Scintillation refers to the dance of light in a diamond.

If you’re looking for the highest optical performing diamond in the world, one that can only exist thanks to years of tradition meeting modern technology, try the Clear Light Cut, certified by the GIA as the best cut you can get.

CLARITY

Natural diamonds are the result of carbon exposed to tremendous heat and pressure deep in the earth. This creation process can result in a variety of internal and external characteristics. Evaluating diamond clarity involves determining the number, size, relief, nature and position of these two characteristics, as well as how these affect the overall appearance of the stone. Grades range from “Flawless”, with virtually no imperfections, to included, which contain a significant number of imperfections.

COLOR

Diamonds come in all colors of the spectrum and diamond color evaluation of most gem-quality diamonds is based on the absence of color. The less color in the stone, the more desirable and valuable it is. The color scale begins with the letter D, representing colorless, and continues, with increasing presence of color, to the letter Z. A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond has no hue, like a drop of pure water, and consequently, a higher value.

CARAT

Diamond carat weight is the measurement of how much a diamond weights. A metric “carat” is defined as 200 milligrams. Each carat can be subdivided into 100 “points,” which allows very precise measurements to the hundredth decimal place. All else being equal, diamond price increases with the diamond carat weight, as larger diamonds are rarer and more desirable.

Nevertheless, two diamonds of equal carat weight may have very different values depending on the other three factors of the diamond 4Cs: Clarity, Color, and Cut. You can learn more about the 4 Cs here.

2. Be responsible, but don’t be cheap

Like any other purchase you make, there are plenty of options across a wide price range to choose from when it comes to an engagement ring, but no other purchase you make in life will come with the scrutiny, attention, and expectation of an engagement ring. That’s always been true, but in our current age of social media, the engagement ring you give your significant other will be seen in pictures by everyone they know.

I’m not suggesting you live your life based on what other people think, but when it comes to a diamond ring, you’re not buying something that will be replaced down the road or go out of style in a few years like a car or TV.

Diamonds are timeless, and your investment in a ring can become a family heirloom for your children and their grandchildren to pass on. But even in the short term, you want to get on one knee, open that box, and blow them away. You’ll never forget that moment.

So here’s what I suggest: figure out what you can afford to spend and when the time is right, make a responsible purchase that won’t derail your financial plans for the future. Just don’t be cheap.

3) Don’t be afraid to get fancy

Most engagement rings are a beautiful, clear diamond, but did you know diamonds come in every color of the rainbow? Called fancy diamonds, these colorful gems are actually more rare and valuable than most of their clear counterparts. The rarest and most valuable colors are pinks, blues, and greens, and more affordable and common colors are brown and canary yellow.

4) Make sure they’re certified

Would you buy an autographed piece of sports memorabilia without a certificate of authenticity? When it comes to buying an engagement ring, you need to make sure your diamond is certified and graded by the GIA. If you find a ring you like in a store and they can’t provide you with GIA certification, walk out the door immediately.

Every Diamond Grading Report from the GIA documents the specific characteristics of a diamond, including an assessment of the 4Cs — Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat Weight — along with a plotted diagram of its clarity characteristics and a graphic representation of the diamond’s proportions.

Beyond their official grading and certification, you should also look for diamonds that adhere to the standards established by the Kimberley Process and Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). These are governing bodies created by the United Nations that ensure each diamond is from a conflict-free source and handled with the highest, most ethical and humane standards throughout the entire chain of custody, from mine to finger.

At Golkonda, we only sell diamonds certified by the GIA that adhere to the standards established by the Kimberley Process and originate from channels certified by the RJC.

5) Ask your friends

If you aren’t the first person you know to get engaged, talk to people you trust who have already gone through this process. Their first-hand experience will give anecdotal insight into what it’s like and could make things even easier for you.

6) Explore in person, buy online

I can only speak for myself, but I can’t be the only person who will go to a store to see a product in person, test it out, do some research, and then go on Amazon and buy it online at a lower price. In the past, brand name retail jewelry stores with a physical presence were the only way to buy an engagement ring, but that’s no longer the case, and online options often come with more competitive pricing without compromising on quality.

Online jewelry stores often come with a lifetime warranty and flexible return policies for additional piece of mind. Put in the time to see what you like first-hand, then invest a little more time to find the best price from a boutique online retailer.

7) Plan accordingly

According to The Knot, most grooms spend three months researching and shopping for a ring, visiting four different stores and looking at 27 different rings before making a decision. While researching in person is a given, I also suggest checking the #diamondring and #engagementring hashtags on Instagram and browsing Pinterest for inspiration and ideas. Buy a wedding magazine, read it on a bench one afternoon, and throw it away before you get home. This is a big decision and one that will be with you for the rest of your life, so do your homework. No matter how much planning you do, diamonds can possess a certain attraction and magnetism that often leads to them finding you, not the other way around.

It’s also important that the ring fits, so if you have the opportunity to snag a ring of hers and bring it to a jeweler to have her size measured without getting caught, take it.

8) Make it one of a kind

While the “5th C” isn’t exactly an industry term, I think that customization is an option that isn’t discussed often enough. Listen, you’re marrying her because she’s unlike anyone else you’ve ever met before, right? You can buy a beautiful ring off the shelf that dozens of others brides may be wearing around the country and she’ll be happy, but customizing a ring and creating something that’s one of a kind, just like her, adds another level of romanticism and thoughtfulness to the gesture.

Every diamond is unique. There’s no reason your engagement ring shouldn’t be too.

9) Don’t include her

I don’t mean to judge, so don’t take this last piece of advice the wrong way, but a little piece of my heart dies every time I see a couple shopping for their engagement ring together. There are so few opportunities in life to make a grand romantic gesture and do something truly beautiful for someone you love. In my opinion, proposing should be one of them. If your relationship is heading in this direction, there’s a strong chance your significant other has some idea it’s coming at some point, but browsing for a ring together seems so calculated and, for lack of a better word, lame.

Once you are married, every decision you make for the rest of your life will be a decision you make together. Buying an engagement ring and proposing is one of the last things you’ll ever have the opportunity to do independently of your significant other.

Embrace it. Trust yourself. The answer will be yes.

The global diamond trade experienced a transformation in 1871 when the “De Beers” and “Kimberley” mines were discovered in South Africa, but before Africa became a powerhouse at unearthing and exporting these precious gems at unprecedented speeds, the worlds greatest diamonds came from India.

Prior to the 1800s, it was believed that India was the only source of diamonds in the world.

The Golconda Citadel and its surrounding mines in Hyderabad, India were the only major source of diamonds being exchanged and traded on Earth, including legendary stones like the Hope Diamond and the Daria-I-Noor. Perhaps that’s why diamonds hold such a special significance in Indian culture and its off-shoots, a revered position with spiritual and symbolic implications.

That’s what I want to share with you today. Not information about the monetary value of diamonds or their prominence in pop culture, but something deeper and more meaningful to the culture that has been part of my family for generations.

I want to talk about diamonds and spirituality.

For four thousand years, the Rigveda has formed the earliest Hindu scriptures. In it, Indra, the king of the Gods and model for all human rulers, smites sinners and demons with the Vajra trident he wields. Indra is so closely associated with his weapon of choice that he is sometimes referred to as Vajrabhrit, “bearing the Vajra” or Vajrahasta, “holding the Vajra in his hand.” While the word Vajra is often translated as “thunderbolt”, its other meaning sticks with me always: diamond

Though they couldn’t have known it at the time, the ancient Hindus were very perceptive in this choice of metaphor. The most tangible example of perfection in the natural world might just be the diamond.

On an atomic level, its carbon bonds form a crystalline lattice structure, separated from graphite by its nearly flawless symmetry. This mechanical perfection gives it the highest conductive quality for heat and electricity of any natural substance. The strength of a diamond is the stuff of legends. Until the development of modern lasers, nothing could cut a diamond except another diamond. It is no coincidence, then, that “diamond” and “adamant” share the same Latin root.

This durability explains the adoption of the diamond and Vajra by later Buddhists. The entire system of Tibetan Buddhism is a form of “Vajrayana” Buddhism, meaning literally “the diamond way” or “diamond vehicle.”

In this sense, the great monks and lamas of the Himalayas could think of no better metaphor for perfect truth which survives strife and struggles over generations than the diamond. Buddhist symbolism has a strikingly practical quality to it. The lotus, for instance, came to be a symbol of enlightenment because of its life cycle. The seed of a lily pad begins nestled in the dark mud at the bottom of a lake, unconscious and still, before breaking out of itself and snaking its way as a vine to the water’s surface. In the light of the world, it blossoms into a beautiful flower. In this same way, the lotus represents the individual’s path to realization, rising from the darkness into the light of true awareness.

With this in mind, consider the diamond. Buried in the depths of the Earth, hidden away beneath untold layers of rock and dirt, there is a stone. With meticulous care and effort, a master craftsman chips away and breaks it down, until it cannot be broken again. Patiently and lovingly, the craftsman hones and shapes the stone until it shines with a brilliance that rivals the stars in the sky.

I can attest that this task is still time-consuming today. Imagine how much more daunting an effort it must have been more than a millennium ago?

Every diamond is a reminder that some of the greatest beauty in life can be found in a humble stone. At the same time, every diamond is a testament to the work it takes to bring it forth.

In both their raw and finished forms, diamonds demonstrate what hides in plain sight; the hidden potential in all things that waits only for the time and attention to bring it out. The diamond’s clarity reflects the often misunderstood concept of emptiness and nothingness, perhaps more appropriately expressed as “no-thing-ness”. In the Avatasmsaka Sutra, this is expressed in the example of the God Indra’s glittering, bejeweled net at the center of the universe. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each “eye” of the net, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars in the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold.

If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Each jewel reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, creating an infinite reflection.

This perspective, sometimes expressed with the idea of many candles that share one flame, suggests that there is an essential unity underlying and infinitely becoming all things.

Once again, nothing but a jewel can express its brilliance, but here the text goes deeper. Each jewel contains within it every other jewel, and in this way, each jewel contains within it everything that is. In their infinite depths they do not just rival the stars. They reflect and contain them.

While much can be made of this poetic license, I can only speak to my own experience. In the hours I have spent staring into their intricate patterns and repetitions, I have often been awed by the depths each diamond contains.

I think this idea is beautifully expressed by Rumi, the famous Persian poet:

“You wander from room to room hunting for the diamond necklace that is already around your neck.”

It is easy to become lost in a diamond. A single glint will strike my eye and I will lose all other thought except its beauty and disappear for a moment. In that moment I find a space for self-reflection. While each person seems to take their own interpretation of those depths back with them, for me, there is peace and a sense of hope to be found in the stillness and silence.

Have you ever wondered how the diamond engagement ring became such a prominent, romantic part of relationship culture? Or how diamonds became a girl’s best friend? Diamonds are the most beautiful, natural objects on Earth, and they’re desirable for countless reasons, but their journey from royal keepsake to marriage staple didn’t happen overnight.

The first time a diamond ring was used to cement a relationship and culminate an engagement was in Europe over 500 years ago. It wasn’t until Mary Frances Gerety coined “A Diamond Is Forever” for De Beers in 1948 that the diamond engagement ring began to enter the mainstream. Eventually those four words became a cornerstone of modern advertising, even earning the title of “top slogan of the 20th century.” But can one catchy advertising slogan alone convince every person in America (let alone the world) that their relationship wasn’t ready for the next level unless a beautiful diamond ring was part of the process?

Maybe it can. After all, who am I to say for sure? But I believe there’s more to the story than some clever copy, and that men and women around the world aren’t so easily convinced.

There is no denying that diamonds are romantic, beautiful, spiritual, and a perfect symbol of the eternal bond between two people in love. But there is also no denying that the proliferation of diamonds in pop culture has played a significant role in making them such a staple of relationship culture.

Despite what Advertising Age says about the 70-year-long campaign, to credit the ad agency N.W. Ayer for making diamond engagement rings “a thing” in our culture would be a disservice to some of the most influential people and artists of our generation. The same goes for the diamond necklace, earring, bracelet, and every other form the precious gem can take.

When every single relationship status in America changes after the same iconic act, it’s not a solo act, but an epic collaboration.

The past 70 years of music, movies, television and pop culture have been instrumental in the rising popularity of diamonds and the romanticism of the ring. This romance playing out on our screens and over the radio, like all great romances, is a two-sided affair.

Not only has pop culture romanticized the diamond ring for women as an object they desire and hope to receive one day as part of their fairy tale and happily ever after, but the prominence of diamonds in thrilling, action-packed stories about heists and spies has added a layer of masculinity that subtly emphasized their significance and value to future grooms across America.

So where do we start? How about one of the most successful, influential, and celebrated movies of all time? In 1939, almost a decade before that ad campaign came to life, Gone With The Wind made its big screen debut. Adapted from the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by Margaret Mitchell three years prior, it tells the story of Scarlett O’ Hara and Rhett Butler during the Civil War in the south. It won best 8 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay. Adjusted for inflation, it’s the highest grossing film of all time, so yea, it’s safe to say almost everyone has seen it (including the folks at N.W. Ayer).

As the film comes to a close, Rhett proposes to Scarlett, she says yes (albeit with a bit of convincing), and then this happens:

The next major “influencers” in pop culture are one of the most iconic, idolized women of the past century and one of old Hollywood’s most prolific directors. Between 1930 and 1960, Howard Hawks directed Scarface, Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, The Big Sleep, Monkey Business, and Rio Bravo, among other hits. Some of the stars he worked with include Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, and Marilyn Monroe. It’s his work with Monroe, specifically in the 1953 movie Gentleman Prefer Blondes, that will forever connect him to diamonds.

The movie is famous for Monroe’s performance of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend, considered an all-time significant song in cinema by the American Film Institute (it’s been covered over twenty times since). Take a look at the lyrics and you’ll see how Monroe and Hawks helped influence the lust for diamonds among a generation of women.

Here’s one verse:

Men grow cold as girls grow old
And we all lose our charms in the end
But square-cut or pear-shape
These rocks don’t lose their shape
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

If you’ve ever wondered where that saying comes from, now you know.

In 1955, Alfred Hitchcock directed To Catch A Thief, starring Cary Grant as a jewel thief with an eye for diamonds and Grace Kelly as his wealthy love interest who happens to own the largest collection of diamonds in the French Riviera. It was a critical success, as most Hitchcock movies tend to be, and went on to win an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. In 1961, Audrey Hepburn took on the career-defining role of Holly Golightly, the character created by Truman Capote in his beloved Romcom novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Ironically, Capote’s first choice for the lead role was Marilyn Monroe. Look at any promotional photo or poster from the movie and you’ll see the same thing — a gigantic diamond and pearl necklace around Hepburn’s neck.

The influence of the book, film, and Hepburn’s portrayal of its lead character stands the test of time (while some characters from the screen adaptation definitely don’t — we’re looking at you, Mickey Rooney).

Broadway calls the story the birth of a cultural icon and Harper’s Bazaar wrote a story in 2011 called “How Holly Golightly Changed The World.” Whether you believe them or not is up to you, but Audrey Hepburn and Truman Capote played their part in glamorizing the already glamorous diamond and 5th Avenue retailer.

Two years later, we saw one of the first examples of diamonds “targeted” towards men with the release of The Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau. In the films, the Pink Panther is a valuable, rare pink diamond (also known as a fancy diamond) based on the real-life, legendary Daria-i-Noor discovered in the mines of India.

The light-hearted, mysterious tone of the original film and popularity of the Inspector Clouseau character led to a long-running franchise centered around the namesake diamond that included 11 movies, a successful animated cartoon, and a permanent place in pop culture history. In 1993, life imitated art, and a group of diamond bandits known as the Pink Panthers made headlines for a series of 120 high-stakes, high-risk jewelry thefts.

While we’re on the topic of wildly successful film franchises targeted at men with iconic lead characters who pursue high-stakes criminals, I’d like to introduce you to a man who needs no introduction.

Sean Connery was the original James Bond (and the best). He put the franchise on the map after starring in the first five Bond films between 1962–1967 and became a household name. In 1971, after loaning the role to George Lazenby for one Bond movie, he returned to the role of Agent 007 in Diamonds Are Forever.

In the film, Bond goes undercover as a diamond smuggler to infiltrate a diamond smuggling ring led by the classic supervillain and founder of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (the inspiration for Dr. Evil), who intends on using stolen diamonds to build a weaponized laser beam. Bond stopped him because that’s what James Bond does, and Sean Connery earned a record-setting $1.25 million for the part. What guy growing up didn’t dream of being James Bond at one point or another?

While there are plenty more examples of diamonds in pop culture over the 70s and 80s, lets hop in Marty McFly’s DeLorean and time travel to the most influential decade for diamonds, engagement rings, and romance on the screen — the 1990s

In 1990, Julia Roberts starred opposite Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. Who could forget the scene where her character, newly exposed to a glamorous lifestyle, sees (and wears) a $250,00 ruby and diamond necklace for the first time. It wouldn’t be the only time Julia Roberts starred in a successful romantic comedy in the 90's.

In 1997, there was My Best Friend’s Wedding, where she tries to break up the sudden marriage of her best friend from college days before he marries Cameron Diaz. She didn’t just want the man, but the gigantic diamond ring on Diaz’s finger too. In 1998, Roberts starred opposite Ed Harris in Stepmom, where Harris proposes with a memorable diamond ring on a string, and a year later, Roberts would marry Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and Richard Gere in Runaway Bride. But Julia Roberts’ decade-long run of movies with engagement rings and marriage as their focus isn’t the only reason the 90’s were so influential for the diamond.

In 1991, Steve Martin starred in Father of The Bride. Here are the first lines his character, George Banks, says in the movie:

I used to think a wedding was a simple affair. Boy and girl meet, they fall in love, he buys a ring, she buys a dress, they say I do.

The plot revolves around Mr. and Mrs. Banks meeting their daughter’s future husband for the first time, and the hesitance of George to trust the man who wants to marry his daughter. One of the first red flags that puts him on edge?

George Banks: Oh, so — oh, my. And that’s your engagement ring, huh?
Annie Banks: Yes, yes! We got it at a flea market outside of Rome.

Then, in 1997, James Cameron wrote and directed a little movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett called Titanic. While the name and setting of its story suggest it’s about a doomed cruise ship, the driving force around the epic tale is a group of treasure hunters searching for the Heart of the Ocean, a rare, fictional diamond necklace more valuable and beautiful than the prestigious Hope Diamond. The central story of the movie is a present day Rose retelling what happened on the ship to the group searching for the lost diamond in the shipwreck, which she secretly still has in her possession.

You may also remember it as the only thing Rose is wearing when Jack draws her like “one of his French girls.”

Titanic was the most successful movie of all time. It was the first motion picture to earn over a billion dollars at the box office and won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Song. The cultural influence and impact of Titanic are undeniable. It’s among the most significant cinematic achievements in history, and at the heart of it’s story is a diamond.

In the years between then and now, there’s been no shortage of diamonds and engagement rings as central plot points in some of the most beloved stories and films. From Daisy Buchanon’s diamond ring in The Great Gatsby to Satine’s diamond necklace in Moulin Rouge, to the Legally Blonde, Sex and the City, and Twilight series all culminating with our female heroines receiving impressive diamond rings from their significant others. Even Jennifer Aniston, America’s sweetheart, gets a diamond ring and happy ending thanks to Ben Affleck in He’s Just Not That Into You.

It’s impossible to mention Jennifer Aniston without thinking of Friends, a sitcom that defines an entire generation and remains one of the most popular and successful shows of all time. In the two-part season six finale called “The One with the Proposal,” Monica and Chandler get engaged, capping off years of build up and anticipation for viewers everywhere. It’s among the show’s best episodes and most unforgettable, romantic moments in television history.

A diamond is forever, but so are these characters. Movies, music, television and pop culture continue to evolve over the decades, along with the people bringing this entertainment to life, and as time goes by, something else thing remains true.

They’re all romancing the stone.

Diamonds aren’t just my business — they’re my passion

How much time do you spend thinking about diamonds? Unless you’re in a serious relationship with a person you’ve recently decided to spend the rest of your life with, chances are, they don’t cross your mind very often. I think about diamonds every minute of every day. I was born in a region of India that’s also home to some of the first diamond mines ever discovered, and my family has been in the diamond industry for generations.

For many, a diamond ring can be a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation. In my family, our heirloom is the diamond industry.

For decades, we’ve poured our lives and love into diamonds, handling every aspect of them from mine to finger. Today, I wanted to spend a few minutes sharing some of the knowledge I’ve picked up over the years.

WHERE DO DIAMONDS COME FROM?

Diamonds don’t come from coal, but are actually crystallized carbon formed under the Earth by extremely high pressure and temperature. They’re created in the Earth’s mantle, the space between the crust and the outer core, and most of them are billions of years old.

The first recorded, written history of diamonds go all the way back to 321 BC, although it’s believed that the first diamonds were discovered by man during the Bronze Age in India (2500–1700 BC).

The oldest diamond on Earth was discovered nine years ago in Australia, trapped inside of a rare Zircon crystal. According to National Geographic, scientists estimate it’s age at 4.25 billion years old.

Interestingly, the largest diamond known to man isn’t even on Earth. It was recently discovered in outer space by the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre and can be found in the constellation Centaurus, at the core of BPM 37093, a dead star that became a crystallized white dwarf. It weighs 10 billion trillion trillion carats and is larger in diameter than our moon.

It also emits sound frequencies and music similar to the sound of a gigantic, galactic gong. It figures that the scientists who discovered it named it “Lucy”, after The Beatles. Similar to Centaurus, the Sun will become a diamond millions of years from now and take its place as the largest in the universe.

PUT A RING ON IT

De Beers may have popularized the diamond engagement ring with their famous “A Diamond Is Forever” ad campaign in 1948, but they can’t take credit for the idea.

Over 450 years before the De Beers Mining Company explored their first mine in Africa or discovered their first diamond, Maximilian I of Austria proposed to Mary of Burgundy in 1477 with the first diamond engagement ring in recorded history.

The person responsible for inventing the tagline was Mary Frances Gerety, a female copywriter at the N.W. Ayer, a Philadelphia advertising agency that shut down in 2002. Her career is somewhat poetic, or tragic, depending on your outlook.

De Beers was the only client she ever worked on, writing every ad for the company between 1943–1970, but she never got married. According to J. Courtney Sullivan, who wrote about her life and career for the Washington Post and in his novel “The Engagements”, the slogan has appeared in every De Beers ad since 1948.

Mary Frances Gerety spent her entire career helping sell diamond rings and educating men on how to buy them, but never had someone buy one for her. She died on April 11, 1999 at 83 years old, alone in her Pennsylvania home. Two weeks before she did, on March 29th, Advertising Age published their list of the best, most significant slogans of the twentieth century.

“A Diamond Is Forever” was number one.

ROYGBIV

Most engagement rings are clear, but diamonds actually come in every color of the rainbow.

Dubbed “fancy” color diamonds by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), they can range from “fancy light” to “fancy vivid” based on the intensity and depth of the color.

Only one in every 10,000 diamonds discovered qualify as a fancy diamond, making them the rarest and most expensive gems on Earth. Many of the most famous, valuable, and historically significant diamonds, like the Hope Diamond, are fancy diamonds.

Many diamond experts and lovers, myself included, believe each gem carries deep spiritual meaning and mystical powers that differ based on their color, age, history and previous owners. Some even go as far as to believe that diamonds store the emotions and karma of their previous owners. This idea is reinforced throughout history by legends of bad luck and curses being passed down as famous, expensive diamonds were traded and exchanged between royal families and empires.

HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER

The name “diamond” is derived from the Greek word “adamas” which means indestructible and untameable…and the gem lives up to the definition.

• Only a diamond can scratch another diamond.
• The only way to polish a diamond is using another diamond — most commonly diamond powder.
• To cut a diamond, you have to use a blade made with diamonds.

Aside from their beauty and value, it is this strength and durability that explains why the diamond has become such a symbol of love and longevity in our culture.

If you’re interested in reading more about diamonds, I’ll be writing more about them, and what they mean to me, on Medium in the coming weeks and months.

• To learn about the rich history of diamonds, read my first piece on Medium.

A Brief History of Diamonds

• If you’d like to browse my current inventory of diamond rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets, visit Golkonda’s website.
• If you have any questions or would like to inquire about a custom piece for someone special, shoot me an email — vinit@golkonda.com

If you learned something by reading this, please recommend it by clicking the heart icon at the bottom of the page.

The diamond is often thought of as a proclamation of love and commitment, used once (hopefully) to bookmark the end of one phase in a relationship and the beginning of a new, united, eternal one. When most people purchase a diamond, it’s an investment in their future, and the person they choose the spend that future with, but as someone who has spent their entire life surrounded by diamonds and working in the diamond business, what’s interesting to me is their significance over history and the journey they’ve taken as an indispensable part of our culture.

Every Diamond Has a Story

The word “diamond” is originally derived from the Greek word “adamas”, which meant unconquerable and indestructible. Before diamonds became an ancient form of currency or a modern symbol of love, they were surrounded by superstition, spirituality, magic, mystique, and divine belief.

Plato believed that diamonds were living beings that embodied celestial spirits. In Hindu mythology, it’s believed that someone wearing a diamond is protected from fire, poison, thieves, water snakes, and evil spirits. Romans believed wearing diamonds into battle would make a warrior stronger and invincible, while others believe someone wounded or sick can be cured by the magical energy within each stone.

The Origin of Diamonds (BC)

According to some, the original discovery of diamonds was made between 2500 and 1700 BC by the Dravidians in India during the Indus Valley Civilization in the Bronze Age. Others believe the first diamonds were discovered in India closer to 1000 BC.

Between 400 and 300 BC, the first recorded and written knowledge of diamonds begin to appear in the Sanskrit texts Arthashastra and Ratnapariksha.

Arthashastra is the earliest chronicle of diamonds being traded and used as a currency or source of revenue. In Ratnapariksa, we see the first recorded method of grading and ranking the quality or characteristics of a diamond. In both texts, there are references to the magical, powerful nature of diamonds, stating that those who wear diamonds will see “dangers recede from him”, regardless of the threat. These texts describe the diamond as “the jewel above all others” and the most desired, sought after possession in Indian culture.

There is also early reference to diamonds being used as a tool for the first time in The Bible.

“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven on the table of their heart, and on the horns of your altars.” — Jeremiah 17:1

In 327 BC, when Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, invaded India, he returned to Europe with diamonds from the region, exporting the stones for the first time. Around 120 BC, Eudoxus Cysicii, a Greek sailor, observed deep digging next to river alluvions. This is the earliest reference to diamond mining in European history.

The Rise of Diamonds (AD)

For hundreds of years, diamonds were used as a form of currency and symbol of power and status. It wasn’t until 1074, when the queen of Hungary has her crown decorated with diamonds, that the stones were used as a form of jewelry. Over the next thousand years, diamonds began to make their mark on our history. Royal families and powerful leaders exchanged them to seal an alliance and express their loyalty. The diamond industry boomed, with mines popping up in new countries and continents around the world, and eventually, they became a symbol of love and commitment.

In the early 13th century, Koh-i-Noor (Mountian of Light) the first “famous” diamond was discovered in the Golconda mines of India. Weighing over 790 carats at the time, it was believed to have magical powers and it became a legend that whoever owned the diamond ruled the world. Between the time of its initial discovery and today, it changed hands countless times, often during bloody, violent battles, leading some to believe that it’s actually cursed and brings bad luck to its owner.

It is currently part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, set in the Queen Mother’s Crown and held inside the Tower of London.

In 1477, Archduke Maximillian of Austria, head over heels in love with Mary of Burgundy, commissioned the very first diamond engagement ring, sparking a trend at the time to use diamonds as part of the proposal process and creating a tradition that we still follow today.

As the demand for diamonds increased and their function began to evolve, the supply for diamonds needed to grow as well. In the early 1500’s, Vasco da Gama opened the direct sea-route to India and helped increase the quantity of diamonds being exported from India to Europe.

As diamonds became more popular, it became necessary for them to take different shapes and sizes to stand out. In 1520, the “Rose Cut” was created to resemble a rose, and in 1562, Mary Queen of Scots sent a heart-shaped diamond ring to Queen Elizabeth as a symbol of their friendship.

In 1638, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French traveler and gem merchant, discovered the Hope Diamond in the Golconda mines of India during one of his six voyages to the region. He would go on to sell the 116-carat “Tavernier Blue” diamond to Louis XIV of France for the equivalent of 172,000 ounces of pure gold and a letter of ennoblement. It’s been on exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. since 1958.

While the Hope Diamond, pictured above, is most synonymous with Tavernier’s name, he has been linked to a number of great diamonds over the course of history, either as the person responsible for discovering them directly, or encountering and illustrating them over the course of his travels. One of these diamonds is The Orlov, which is mounted in Catherine the Great’s Imperial Sceptre in the late 1700’s.

While Catherine the Great was ruling with her Imperial Sceptre in Russia, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was entangled in a dramatic diamond scandal that began her fall from grace.

“The Affair of the Diamond Necklace”, as it’s known today, was an incident that took place in the early 1780s, four years before the French Revolution, and implicated an innocent Marie Antoinette in a fraudulent crime surrounding an expensive diamond necklace. Long story short, people who claimed to be buying the necklace on behalf of the Queen, with her permission, negotiated the price and terms of sale and stole it under the guise that it would be paid for by Antoinette in the future, only the flee the country and sell it. They were eventually caught and put on trial, and despite the Queens innocence and ignorance of the whole crime, the public believed she was instrumental in the planning and never looked at her the same way, leading to a downfall in her popularity and a loss of trust between the French people and their leaders.

While all of this (and more) was happening in Europe, the rest of the world was on a mission to discover their own diamond mines and reap the benefits of their value.

In 1725, Brazil discovered their first diamond mines. By 1870, they had mined over seventeen million carats worth of diamonds.

In 1829, alluvial deposits were found in the Ural mountains of Russia, which led to the regions first diamond mines.

In 1851, the first recorded diamonds and mines were found in the Bathurst area of New South Wales, Australia.

The diamond boom began in South Africa around 1866, continued with the discovery of even more mines near the Orange River in 1870, and really took off in 1871, when the “de Beers” and “Kimberley” mines were discovered. This led to a larger global supply of diamonds stemming from South Africa, and by 1888, De Beers Consolidated Mines LTD was incorporated in South Africa and began to control the global diamond trade.

Just a few years later, my grandfather was born in India, not far from the legendary Golconda mines, and began working with my uncle in the diamond industry, riding his bike from village to village selling diamonds by the bagful.

In January 1905, Thomas Evan Powell, a miner working the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, discovered the Cullinan Diamond. Named after the owner of the mine, at the time of its discovery it was two times larger than any other diamond known to man and weighed in at 3,106 carats. It was eventually cut into a number of large and small diamonds, including the Cullinan I and II, both of which are part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The Cullinan I is also known as the Great Star of Africa and is the largest cut diamond in the world, currently nestled at the top of the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross, pictured below.

As the diamond industry began to boom in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and new suppliers emerged around the globe, systemic measures began to fall into place to help buyers and sellers alike have a uniform method of measuring the quality and value of their diamonds.

In 1931, The Gemological Institute of America is created, inventing the 4 C’s (color, clarity, cut, and carat weight) to help measure the quality of each gem, as well as the international diamond grading system. Three years later, in 1934, The American Gem Society is created to help protect and educate consumers.

While these organizations were created as a byproduct of so many new sources of diamonds, Golconda, the original diamond depot from India, still reigned supreme. 1933 marked the first record of the Archduke Joseph diamond, a 78.54 carat stone that came from the Golconda mines. It was named after Archduke Joseph August of Austria, and joins Golconda’s Hope and Koh-i-Noor diamonds as some of the most famous and valuable in our history. While its origin story is unknown, it’s value is undeniable. In 2012, it was sold at Christie’s Auction House for twenty one million dollars, a world record for a Golconda diamond.

As organizations like the GIA and AGS began to determine the criteria for which a diamond should be measured, Harry Oppenheimer, the son of the founder of De Beers, saw a huge opportunity to sell more diamonds to the public. In 1938, he approached N.W. Ayer, an advertising agency in New York, to create an ad campaign that would create the perception among the public that diamonds are a work of art. They began working together, and in 1948, N.W. Ayer created the “A Diamond Is Forever” slogan and ad campaign.

The Modern Era of Diamonds

Diamonds are now mainstream, with supply and demand at such high levels that anyone in the world can own one. With so many new sources of diamonds, and conflict stemming as a result of their value, the Kimberley Process was created in Kimberley, South Africa, as a way to stop the trade in “conflict diamonds” and ensure that the diamond market was not financing violence.

In December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly took the first steps toward the creation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international certification for rough diamonds. As a continuation of this trend towards more ethical business practices in the diamond industry, the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) was created in 2005 to establish ethical standards, certifications, and best practices around the diamond business.

While all of this was taking place on Earth, a new discovery was made in space that dwarfed the Hope, Archduke Joseph, and Koh-i-Noor Diamonds.

In 2004, Lucy, the largest diamond known to man, was discovered in space by the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre…who couldn’t resist naming it after the Beatles song. It’s located in the constellation Centaurus at the core of BPM 37093, a dead star that became a white dwarf. It weighs 10 billion trillion trillion carats and is larger in diameter than our moon. It also produces sound frequencies and music similar to the sound of a gigantic, galactic gong.

After discovering Lucy, scientists believe that one day in the very distant future, our sun will become a diamond too. Until that day comes, the diamonds on Earth will have to do, and in 2009, a new one was discovered in South Africa that made headlines in the news.

Cullinan Heritage, a 507.55 carat Type IIa* rough diamond, was discovered in South Africa and purchased by Chow Tai Fook, Hong Kong’s largest jeweler, for $35.3 million.

The term Type IIa describes a specific and rare chemical composition reserved for the brightest, purest, highest grade diamonds. Only about 2% of the world’s diamonds are Type IIa, including all of the diamonds found in Golconda mines, and a defining characteristic of these diamonds is their complete lack of nitrogen.

Over the course of 47,000 hours, the Cullinan Heritage diamond was cut into over 11,000 smaller stones, all of which were used in the creation of the necklace below.

In 2015, Blue Moon, a 12.3 carat diamond, became the world’s most expensive after selling for $48.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction.

Which brings us to 2016, and more specifically, today. On June 29, 2016, the largest rough diamond in over 100 years goes up for auction at Sotheby’s London. Discovered in Botswana and called Lesedi La Rona, or “our light”, it weighs in at 1,109 carats and is the being hailed by David Bennett, a chairman at Sotheby’s jewellery division, as “the find of a lifetime” and one of the largest diamonds to ever be offered at a public auction.

Although its creation is hard to fathom, most people would readily recognise that a diamond of this size, with such extraordinary properties, is quite an astounding natural wonder. Perhaps more wondrous — some would even saymiraculous — is that it made its journey to the earth’s surface and was discovered only just recently. — Vivienne Becker, Sotheby’s on the Lesedi La Rona

As new diamonds continue to be mined and old ones continue to be discovered, I’m excited to see where the diamond industry goes next. The world is constantly changing, but one constant throughout all of the turmoil and transformation is the significance and value of diamonds. They transcend economic highs and lows, currency fluctuations, deprecation, and generational culture shifts. Their strength, beauty, and durability are unparalleled by any other natural substance on Earth.

When you wear a diamond, you’re not just wearing a piece of art or a symbol of love. You’re wearing a piece of history.