Diamond

[[File:Diamond-270244.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Not actually forever.]]
{{geology}}
'''Diamond''' is a form of [[carbon]] that forms cubic [[crystals]] and is the hardest known naturally-occurring substance in existence,<ref group=note>At least according to the Mohs scale and the closely-related Vickers scale. There are multiple ways to measure hardness, which is why some people say that there are minerals harder than diamond, but the Mohs scale is the measurement that is most frequently used in [[geology]], with other measures of hardness being primarily used in [[engineering]].</ref> being a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. Despite this, on [[Earth]]'s surface it is actually less thermodynamically stable than graphite, another form of carbon, but diamond decays to graphite very, very slowly. Diamonds are probably more famous for their status in modern society, being considered extremely rare and valuable, but this is mostly just due to the work of the diamond cartel — yes, diamonds are sold in much the same way as [[heroin]]. Due to this, there is also quite a bit of misinformation and [[woo]] surrounding diamonds.

==Properties==
Diamonds on [[Earth]] form at very high pressures within the mantle. They are then sent to the Earth's crust in volcanic eruptions carrying chunks of mantle rock called xenoliths.<ref name=industrial>[https://geology.com/minerals/diamond.shtml Diamond], ''Geology.com''</ref> They are typically found within kimberlite, a mica-rich variety of peridotite. Additionally, tiny diamonds are sometimes found in meteorites known as ureilites, where they are believed to have formed due to planetary collisions during the early history of the [[Solar System]].<ref>[https://scitechdaily.com/largest-extraterrestrial-diamonds-ever-discovered-cosmic-diamonds-formed-during-gigantic-planetary-collisions/ Largest Extraterrestrial Diamonds Ever Discovered: Cosmic Diamonds Formed During Gigantic Planetary Collisions], ''SciTechDaily'' 29 September 2020</ref> Beyond their hardness, diamonds have several unique properties: they are transparent over the largest range of wavelengths, they are the best conductor of heat, they have the highest melting point at 3820 Kelvin, and they have the most tightly packed [[atom]]s of any known substance.<ref>[https://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/rocks_minerals/minerals/diamond.html Diamond], ''University of Auckland''</ref> Diamonds are also flammable, although it takes a significant amount of effort to burn one — you need lots of [[oxygen]] (more than is likely to exist in the background) and a lot of heat, and you have to be careful when burning them as they have a habit of exploding into many smaller pieces when at high temperatures, although once a diamond is burned, it will disappear completely, having been turned entirely to carbon dioxide.<ref>[https://www.dmia.net/diamonds-are-flammable/ Diamonds are Flammable! How to Safeguard Your Jewelry], Carl Jones, ''dmia''</ref> So much for diamonds being forever. Due to their unique properties, diamonds have a variety of industrial applications, with it most commonly being added to things like saws and drills to enable them to cut through other hard material (including other diamonds), but it also has uses in specialized forms of glass, as a heat absorber, in high-quality speakers, and quite a few other applications.<ref name=industrial /> Contrary to popular belief, diamonds are not infinitely durable against anything but other diamonds; anyone with an old enough record player can attest that even much softer substances can grind one down.

==In economics==
Diamonds were known by humans for thousands of years, with the first mention of them being in an [[India]]n text dating to the 4<sup>th</sup> century BCE. Diamonds would start to reach [[Europe]] from trade routes by the 13<sup>th</sup> century, and the first diamond cutting industry would start at around 1330 in Venice. During this time, diamonds were considered to be incredibly rare and were reserved for royalty.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/diamonds-a-history/ Diamonds: A History], David Kohn, ''CBS News'' 8 May 2002</ref> However, everything would change in the late 19<sup>th</sup> century when massive diamond deposits were discovered in [[South Africa]], which resulted in the flooding of the market and diamonds becoming significantly less profitable, and that is when the De Beers became relevant. [[UK|British]] [[imperialism|imperialist]] [[Cecil Rhodes]] founded De Beers in 1880, and was able to quickly gain control of almost all of South Africa's diamond mines by taking advantage of the mines' need for shared infrastructure that he was able to provide. By 1888, he had [[monopoly|monopolized]] the diamond trade, which he was then able to take advantage of using the "Diamond Syndicate": by collaborating with all the mine owners to create an artificial scarcity of diamonds, he was able to cause prices to skyrocket and make the diamond trade incredibly profitable. By the time Rhodes died in 1902, De Beers controlled 90% of the diamond trade, but Ernest Oppenheimer would take over and make the trade even more profitable by forming exclusive contracts with all diamond suppliers that prevented them from working with anyone other than De Beers, and when any potential competitor would form, they would quickly be bought out. De Beers has been controlling the diamond market like this for over a century, and while its hold on the market has weakened in recent years due to several governments like [[Russia]], [[Canada]], and [[Australia]] refusing to cooperate with the company for any longer, they still are massively profitable to this day.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-de-beers-2011-12#but-by-the-beginning-of-the-21st-century-diamond-producing-companies-had-enough-of-de-beers-monopoly-forcing-a-change-in-structure-for-the-company-9 The Incredible Story Of How De Beers Created And Lost The Most Powerful Monopoly Ever], Eric Goldschein, ''Business Insider'' 19 December 2011</ref>

===Falsehoods to consumers===
During the [[Great Depression]], sales of diamonds had fallen considerably, and De Beers needed a way to get [[US|American]]s to start buying diamonds again. In 1947, Frances Gerety, an [[ad]] writer working for De Beers, came up with the now-infamous slogan "Diamonds are Forever", which, while blatantly untrue, as diamonds are decaying into graphite as you read this, nevertheless caught on with consumers.<ref>[https://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/03/31/1948-de-beers-diamond-forever-campaign-invents-the-modern-day-engagement-ring 1948: De Beers 'A diamond is forever' campaign invents the modern day engagement ring], ''The Drum'', 31 March 2016</ref>{{efn|De Beers later got free forever publicity from Ian Fleming's 1956 spy novel and 1971 film of the same name.}} This is the reason why diamond rings are now considered an obligation for any [[marriage|married]] people, as the percentage of brides receiving wedding rings jumped from 10% in 1940 to 80% in 1990 due largely to this ad campaign, with De Beers's profits in America also skyrocketing from $23 million in 1939 to $2.1 billion in 1979, the results of one of the most successful [[scam]]s in corporate history.<ref>[https://theeyeofjewelry.com/de-beers/de-beers-jewelry/de-beers-most-famous-ad-campaign-marked-the-entire-diamond-industry/ De Beers’ most famous ad campaign marked the entire diamond industry], Eleonor Picciotto, ''The Eye of Jewelry'' 22 April 2020</ref> These ad campaigns as well as the enforced artificial scarcity led to many misconceptions about diamonds supposedly being incredibly rare and valuable, while in reality diamonds are not particularly rare, especially when compared to other precious stones,<ref>[https://www.truefacet.com/guide/makes-diamonds-valuable/ What Makes Diamonds So Valuable?], ''TrueFacet'' 29 June 2017</ref> and can just as easily be made artificially in a lab.<ref>[https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/how-are-lab-grown-diamonds-made/ How are lab-grown diamonds made?], Dr. Emma Davies, ''Science Focus'' 24 September 2021</ref>

===Blood diamonds===
Unfortunately, the diamond industry is not known for having a stellar record on [[human rights]] either. Diamonds are mined in unsafe conditions, where [[child labor]], [[sexual assault]], [[slavery]], workplace injuries, and even deaths are common. While it is one of the only sources of work in many of the places they are mined, the miners still don't see enough money to escape [[poverty]] and the infrastructure around the mines is terrible. But even more infamous are "blood diamonds", also known as "conflict diamonds", which are mined in areas controlled by rebel groups who use the profits to fund military activity. In 2003, the diamond industry created the Kimberly Process which was supposed to identify diamonds mined in conflict zones, but it received criticism for still having a lot of loopholes and not addressing the other [[corporate human rights violations|human rights violations]] associated with the industry.<ref>[https://time.com/blood-diamonds/ Blood Diamonds], Aryn Baker, ''Time''</ref> Although a bit less so than other forms of mining since diamond mining doesn't rely on toxic chemicals, diamond mining still leaves a considerable environmental impact, with the erosion caused by mining even resulting in the destruction of ecosystems if poorly managed. Abandoned diamond mines can also become filled with stagnant water and thus a breeding ground for mosquitos, resulting in the spread of diseases such as [[malaria]].<ref>[https://www.brilliantearth.com/blood-diamond-environmental-impact/ Environment], ''Brilliant Earth''</ref>

==Pseudoscience/woo==
Like any substance that has fascinated humans for millennia, diamonds have a significant amount of [[urban legends]] and woo associated with them. One example is with "Herkimer Diamonds", which aren't actually diamonds at all but are actually quartz crystals and are used in [[crystal healing]].<ref>[https://www.crystalvaults.com/crystal-encyclopedia/herkimer-diamond/ Herkimer Diamond Uses and Purposes – Overview], ''Crystal Vaults''</ref> Diamond was also used as a medicine throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. For example, in [[Hildegardian medicine]], diamonds placed on the skin were supposed to cure loss of vision, epilepsy, and heart pain. A well-known urban legend is that {{wpl|Pope Clement VII}} died after eating a medicine made from powdered diamonds,<ref>[https://www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/blog/2013/10/diamond-myths-and-legends/ Diamond Myths and Legends], ''Cape Town Diamond Museum''</ref> although there don't appear to be any primary sources backing up this claim.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7lg6pz/did_pope_clement_vii_really_take_powdered/ Did Pope Clement VII really take powdered diamonds as medicine before he died?], ''Reddit''</ref> Some [[young Earth creationism|young-earth creationist]]s say that [[Carbon 14|carbon-14]] testing of diamonds proves a young Earth, when in reality this is a misunderstanding of [[radiometric dating]], as carbon dating won't give reliable results for super-old objects as the level of radioactivity from carbon in them is much lower than the background levels.<ref>[https://ncse.ngo/answers-creationist-attacks-carbon-14-dating Answers to Creationist Attacks on Carbon-14 Dating], Christopher Gregory Weber, ''NSCE''</ref> In fact, the presence of nitrogen impurities in diamonds does the opposite and proves an ''[[Evidence against a recent creation|old]]'' Earth, as it takes millions of years for nitrogen to seep into diamond's structure and newer diamonds as well as lab-grown ones don't contain these impurities.<ref>[https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00518 Nitrogen in Diamond], Michael N.R. Ashfold et al., ''Chem. Rev'', 12 February 2020</ref> Probably the most famous urban legend involving diamonds is the supposed "Curse of the Hope Diamond", which was entirely made up by Pierre Cartier, one of the diamond's former owners, to inflate the stone's value.<ref>[https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/the-cursed-hope-diamond/ The Cursed Hope Diamond and its Many "Victims"], ''Ripley's Believe it or Not!'' 29 June 2020</ref>

===Hope Diamond curse===
[[File:The Hope Diamond - SIA.jpg|thumb|165px|Pictured: A Titanic movie prop]]
[[File:HopeDiamondwithLighting2.JPG|thumb|165px|Shiny]]
The {{wpl|Hope Diamond}} is one of the most famous jewels in the world, and is also rumoured to be [[Curse|cursed]], bringing misfortune and tragedy to whoever owns it. 
It’s currently owned by the Smithsonian Institution, and so far, nothing bad has happened to them. According to legend, now that the Smithsonian has acquired the diamond, the curse has gone dormant. It supposedly came from the [[India|Indian]] Kingdom of Golconda, but that is somewhat difficult to prove.

====Is it real?====
Not really. The idea of a ''curse'' was most likely fabricated to increase the gem's appeal 
and newspaper sales
. In 1908, the ''[[Washington Post]]'' published an article titled "Remarkable Jewel a Hoodoo—Hope Diamond Has Brought Trouble To All Who Have Owned It".<ref>[https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/mineralsciences/hope/details/the-curse-of-the-hope-diamond.htm The Curse of the Hope Diamond]. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History.</ref>
Is the Hope Diamond cursed? Of course not! But where did such an idea come from? The above article, along with another article containing a list of those who apparently fell victim to the curse, is what most likely popularized the idea of the diamond having some kind of curse.

===="Victims"====
According to the stories, all the owners of it either died, or were hit with some kind of misfortune, although many of the deaths could be just natural causes. A few notable names that are said to have held it at one point include Louis XV, Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette. ''According to the Diamond's lore'', it's said that it was the reason that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette got guillotined during the [[French Revolution]]. However, this is false, as historical records show that Antoinette never wore the diamond.<ref group=note>However, Louis' death might just be a [[coincidence]].</ref>

==See also==
* [[Gold]]
* [[Talc]] — At the other end of the hardness scale.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Chemicals]]
[[Category:Crystals]]
[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Evidence against a recent creation]]
[[Category:Folklore]]
[[Category:Scams]]

Categories: Chemicals, Crystals, Economics, Evidence against a recent creation, Folklore, Scams