French kings adored them. Jehan Shah, builder of the Taj Mahal, wore an 88-carat heirloom at his coronation in 1628. The compulsion to own the very best survives in today's world of dwindling monarchies. Consider recent diamond auction fever. They celebrated birthdays and Christmas and special private moments with tennis bracelets and cocktail rings and necklaces and pendants, all of them ablaze with diamonds.
Diamonds are the ultimate symbol of romance.
More than 500 years ago, in 1477, Maximilliam of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy to seal their marriage vows. Maximillian had obviously paid heed to what the ancients said, namely that the third finger of the left hand connected directly to the heart by the Vein of Love. The diamond world is truly global. Today, the two richest sources of gem quality diamonds are Botswana, an emerging Third World country which relies on these gemstones for three quarters of its total revenues, and the former Soviet Union, whose bountiful mines are clustered in the frozen Siberian tundra. For some curious reason, the most productive mines seem almost always to be found in inaccessible regions.