Astrologers call the diamond the stone of the Sun and Venus and advise those born under the sign of Aries to wear it. But numerous stories and legends confirm that the people who owned the famous diamonds did not pay any attention to the warnings of astrologers, they just had a desire to own them, because these gems produced a tremendous effect in society, and in case of financial problems they could help out.

Diamonds changed their owners, bringing them troubles, ruin and death, leaving traces of blood on their way.

What is their strength? Is a diamond the rarest stone, and therefore expensive? No, a diamond is not that rare at all. Of all the expensive gemstones, diamond is the most common. Diamond is a unique stone. It is in the top line on the Mohs scale of hardness, the second in the same scale is corundum, but diamond is many times harder than it.



Diamond has the highest melting point - 3820 C (however, it is not easy to achieve melting, since this can happen at high pressure), the highest thermal conductivity, it is transparent in a wide wavelength range. But do you really need all these advantages? These are all those parameters that are of interest to physicists and engineers, scientists, inventors ...

It is important to you how this stone sparkles. And its reflectivity is responsible for this property. Diamond strongly refracts and reflects light rays. It has a high dispersion (the property of decomposing white into its constituent colors). It is this property that creates a unique play of multi-colored rays, which, it seems to us, is emitted by the stone itself, the bright flashes and play of its edges are extremely beautiful. Rotating the diamond in the hand, it seems that it is painted in different colors of the rainbow.



Carbon is one of the most common chemical elements, and it is he who is the main component of the diamond. Then a lot of diamonds? Exactly. But if there is a lot, then they cannot be expensive? Diamonds are located in the depths of the Earth, where all conditions for their formation are possible (200 - 600 km).

Diamonds penetrate to the Earth's surface due to volcanic activity, but this is one option, and let scientists think about the rest. As a result, diamond mining is a very difficult task. But other precious stones are not just given into the hands.

And one more point that cannot explain the high cost. The diamond itself is not that attractive. Natural crystals rarely have regular polyhedrons. Crystals are usually covered with cracks, build-ups and various inclusions. In short, the appearance of a diamond is initially not the most perfect. It is brought to perfection by the hands of a master cutter. Consequently, the price of a diamond is not acquired immediately.




A cut diamond is a diamond. Who made him the king of precious stones? Diamond is the only gemstone whose production and entry to the world market is strictly controlled.

This control is carried out by the De Beers company, which began in the 1880s. The founder of the company was Cecile John Rhodes, a well-known English businessman and colonialist at the time. But gradually, competitors arose in parallel with this company, and by the 1920s, the state of affairs of De Beers began to decline. Then a new successor of the business appeared - the clever businessman Ernst Oppenheimer. Since 1902, he was already engaged in diamonds, gold and other wealth of South Africa, and in 1926 he entered the management of De Beers and after a while acquired a controlling stake.



A rather interesting and fascinating story can be presented about the history of De Beers' existence, but the most important thing is that the company, represented by such clever businessmen, became a monopolist and subsequently managed to exercise control over the sale of diamonds. De Beers' main task was very simple: to prevent the diamond business from collapsing under the onslaught of cheap raw materials, which means that constant monitoring of the market is needed.

The company began to control all purchases and sales of diamonds, constantly regulating their "release" to the market, using its principle - to release a little less polished diamonds for sale than necessary, while buying diamonds from manufacturers and selling them on time. De Beers continues to skillfully manage the market today.



The main warehouse of the company is located in London. It is a multi-storey building that stores sorted diamonds waiting in line - when will they be released for sale. The company is also virtuoso in its use of diamond advertising.

For a long time, diamonds have been advertised in the United States. Most likely, thanks to advertising, such a cultural tradition was formed there - to give a bride a diamond ring as a marriage proposal, and accepting it as a sign of consent. By the way, you need to give a ring with a diamond of at least 1 carat.

Movies in which you see diamond jewelry are the same advertising policy for De Beers. This means that the diamond company has invested its money in the film's budget.



It is always convenient for the masters of large jewelry brands to deal with the De Beers company, since all the stones are sorted here, and therefore it is easy to pick up any number of the same color and size.

When you buy diamond jewelry, you invest not only for the stones themselves, but also pay for the work of De Beers, in other words, you maintain the reliability of the market control mechanism that the company has created.

And if the mechanism stops working? ... Then you can lose your money, because when you buy a diamond, thanks to the company, you know for sure that “The diamond is eternal,” which means that your money put into the diamond has not been lost.

Thus, the diamond has become one of the most reliable and long-term investments. Therefore, as long as the De Beers case is alive, precious stones will be in value ...