Blue Diamond Jewellery

Diamonds in the Chemical Perspective

When we hear of the word diamond, we
immediately associate it with a worldly
and expensive piece of jewellery.
Diamond is indeed precious. It has
outstanding characteristics that would
be envied by other minerals and
gemstones. Let us take a closer look at
a diamond?s features.

In its chemical structure, the chemical
formula for diamond is just plain ?C?.
This is because a diamond?s molecule is
made up of multiple atoms of Carbon
which are tightly yet systematically
arranged in covalent bonds. This
arrangement makes it a very stable
molecule. The fact that diamond are only
made up of only one type of element
makes it the hardest naturally occurring
mineral on earth. In the Mohs hardness
scale for minerals, diamonds is given
the lone perfect ?10?. The second
hardest mineral considered is the
gemstone Sapphire which has a chemical
formula of ?Al2O3?.

The chemical structure of a diamond also
makes it the mineral that is least
likely to be compressed. The strong
covalent bonding between the tight
arrangements of Carbon atoms makes the
diamond stiff. Because of its
compactness, diamonds have high specific
gravity despite the low atomic weight of
its Carbon components.

Diamonds are considered as exceptional
thermal conductors. This means that they
can absorb and release heat four times
better copper. It is this property of
diamond that it got the nickname ?ice?.
Although, exceptional at transferring
heat, diamonds are not good at
conducting electricity, although some
are being used as semiconductors.

Diamonds are transparent from infrared
to ultraviolet lights. Because of the
smoothness of a diamonds surface and its
high material density, diamonds has the
highest reflectance and refraction index
among all transparent materials. This
property of diamonds causes it to have
brilliance and fire which are two terms
commonly used by diamond appraisers. The
brilliance of the diamond comes from its
ability to reflect the light that hits
its surface, while the fire refers to
the apparent inner glow that the diamond
has as it refracts the light that passes
through its dense material.

Diamonds in ideal conditions would
naturally occur as colourless and clear.
However, it is also normal to find
diamonds in a variety of colours. It has
been reported that coloured-diamond
gemstones have been found in all colours
of the rainbow. This coloration of
diamonds results from the incorporation
of trace impurities in its chemical
structure as it was being formed
billions of years ago. The common trace
impurities that are found in diamonds
are Boron and Nitrogen which are
respectively responsible for making
diamonds bluish or yellowish in colour.

Because of the above chemical properties
of diamonds, these gemstones have become
the most expensive in the jewellery
industry. However, the price is worth it
since based on the mentioned chemical
properties, a diamond does indeed last
forever. In fact, loose diamonds that
you will find in jewellery stores or
those that are studded in earrings and
engagement rings have been in existence
for thousands of lifetimes since it took
billions of years to form most of them.

Diamonds are formed as Carbon atoms that
are found in most matter are treated to
extreme heat and pressure caused about
by the ever changing earth. It will take
millions of years under the earth for
the crystallization of carbon to occur
to form diamond. The structure of a
diamond is in a transparent crystal-form
of tetrahedral-bonded carbon atoms and
is crystallized to a face-centred cubic
diamond lattice formation.

The term diamond is coined from the
ancient Greek word ?Adamas? which means
?unbreakable, untamed?. Since it was
discovered thousands of years ago, the
diamond had already lived up to its name
since a diamond indeed is considered to
be the hardest known naturally occurring
mineral in the world. The hardness
quality of the diamond makes it also an
important mineral in industrial
applications.

Diamond is a material renowned for its
unmatched physical qualities. Because of
this, the only material that can scratch
a diamond is another diamond. A polished
diamond can last a long time and would
not be scratch unless it is rubbed
against another diamond. The best
industrial-strength abrasives were made
with diamond dust.

In the industry sector, properties of
diamonds that are most useful are its
high dispersion index, extreme hardness,
and extremely high thermal conductivity
with a 900-2320 W/m K. These properties
are the factors that make a diamond
worthy exceptional in industrial
applications such as an ideal material
in grinding and cutting tools.

In the industrial sector, the diamonds
that are commonly used are the less
expensive ones. These include the
flawed, the coloured, and the unclear
diamonds. These industrial-grade
diamonds are commonly known as bort.

When we hear of the word diamond, we immediately associate
it with a worldly and expensive piece of jewellery. Diamond
is indeed precious. It has outstanding characteristics that
would be envied by other minerals and gemstones. Let us take
a closer look at a diamond?s features.

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