Diamond

Diamond gemstone

The diamond is a myth, it is called “Stone of the Gods”, it is discovered in India in the 8th century BC.

The diamond owes its name to its hardness, from the Latin “adamas” meaning “indomitable”.

There is no mineral with a hardness approaching that of diamond which is 10 on the Mohs scale.

It is only from the 12th or 13th century that the diamond arrives in southern Europe by Venice and in northern Europe by Bruges, Agnès Sorel (1422-1450) favorite of Charles VII will be the first woman of the kingdom of France to wear a diamond.

In 1497, Vasco de Gama (1469-1524) discovers some during his stay in South Africa, at the end of the 18th century the chemist Antoine de Lavoisier (1743-1794) will highlight the material of the diamond which is a pure carbon at 99.99 %.

The diamond is the precious stone par excellence, it was only around 1400 that the “table” diamond appeared and it was not until the middle of the 16th century that facets were gradually added thanks to the use of the grindstone.

Brilliant diamond

The brilliant cut made by the Italian Vicenzo Peruzzi at the end of the 17th century would be the culmination of an evolution starting from the rose cut, passing through the baroque cuts influenced by Cardinal Mazarin in the middle of the 17th century.

The brilliant diamond cut only reached its perfection with the modern cut developed around 1910 from the old cut of the previous century.

The term “brilliant” alone applies only to the round brilliant cut diamond.

The evaluation of the diamond is done by the 4 C method, its color, its mass, its purity and its size, the Anglo-Saxons speak of “color, carat, clarity, cut”.

Of all the gems, the diamond is the most prized and precious, it is eternal and symbolizes power and love, both in myth and in reality.