Minerals

"There are two things in abundance in South Africa, racial hatred and diamonds."

"A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool."

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."

"White (clear) diamond is the flawless gem which is sometimes referred to as “of the first water”, meaning a Diamond of the purest kind. Traded by Indian merchants in the fourth century, it was called by them as “fragment of eternity”, and from Indian mythology comes the legend of Koh-I-Noor, which came to mankind on the forehead of Karna, son of the Sun and a princess of a reigning family. Legend decreed that only a god or a woman would be exempt from punishment and injury as a consequence of possessing this stone, and tragedy indeed stalked the “Mountain of Light” where it was kept before being seized, and in 1850, presented to Queen Victoria."

"Yellow diamond is well chosen because it is the Sun’s own crystal having no affinity with water, and also because Mars, the mutable planet in this area of the zodiac, has been observed to have its soil coated with a thin layer of white."

"The gem is appropriate as first half of Leo’ precious crystal, because Jupiter, the mutable influence on the sign at this point, seems, when viewed from Earth, to give a yellow light."

"In the opinion of gemologists, the yellow Diamond is coloured by nitrogen impurity, which according to Scientists was gifted to our solar system by the incarnation of a once massive Star over ten times the size of our Sun more than a few billion years ago."

"Yellow diamond can be cut in countless styles from the modern round “brilliant” with 58 facets and the appearance of a spider’s web when viewed from above to the 25 faceted “full Dutch rose”."

"Diamond is the hardest, natural susbstance known to man, with a top count of 10 to match the sun’s given number. Its name is derived from the Greek word adamas, meaning “Invincible” or Unbrekable, its structure is ultra-complex, and its atomic composition is held together by powerful bonding."

"A diamond is a pure crystal of carbon which those in the know believe started life deep in the earth many thousands of years ago. The carbon dislodged from the ledge by volcanic disturbances, mingled with molten rock and made its way under pressure along cracks and fissures towards the earth’s surface. Then more volcanic action probably occurred and the whole process repeated itself: break, fold, remelt and rise. The carbon finally transformed into a diamond and settled in a rocky mix of soil called “Blue Earth”, along with Pyrope, Garnets, Olivines, shiny flakes of Mica and a few other gems formed under similar pressure and heat."

"A diamond doesn't start out polished and shining. It once was nothing special, but with enough pressure and time, becomes spectacular. I'm that diamond."

"Imagine you are walking along, and you trip over something and you turn around and find that it is a huge diamond. You would pick it up and do everything in your power to take care of that diamond because it might take care of you for the rest of your life."

"Splendid, too, was the Queen's tale of the Cullinan diamond which caused the Dutch diamond cutter to faint as he split the stone. 'My Grandmother,' Her Majesty told us, 'always referred to the two sizeable chunks hived off from the centre block as the "chips".'"

"It has the greatest thermal conductivity known. A sizeable stone held in the hand feels cold, hence the slang name "ice""

"Diamond is the hardest natural substance known. It is formed deep in the mantle, and is only brought to the surface via kimberlite pipes, lamprophyres, eclogites and other rocks that originate deep within the mantle. It is also found in alluvial deposits, along with quartz, corundum,zircon and other minerals, derived from such rocks, and in certain meteorites."

"For a life where diamonds really are forever."

"All is beautiful and unceasing, all is music and reason, and all, like diamond, is carbon first, then light."

"Is not a diamond that flashes all its colours into the heart of a poet as useful as the diamond with which the glazier divides the sheet of glass into panes of our windows?"

"There is smoke and grease there is the wrist exhaustion, there is laughter, there is the letter seized in the clock and the apple's tang, the river sliding along its banks. darker now than the sky descending a last time to scatter its diamonds into these black waters that contain the day that passed, the night to come."

"Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with."

"Reborn, the stone was first mounted in a tiara for the Queen containing more than 2,000 diamonds, before being incorporated in the coronation crown of Queen Mary in 1911. In 1937 the Koh-i-Noor was transferred to a crown made for the Queen Elizabeth, the consort of George VI. There it remains to this day, set into a Maltese Cross. When the Queen Mother died in 2002 the crown was placed on her coffin for her lying in state."

"The gem called Koh-i-Noor which was taken from Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk by Maharajah Ranjit Singh shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England."

"The Koh-i-Noor has been of ill-fortune only to the few who have lost it. To the long line of emperors, conquerors and potentates who through successive centuries have possessed it, it has been the symbol of victory and empire. And sure never more than to our Queen. However, if Her Majesty thinks it brings bad luck, let her give it back to me. I will take it and its ill-luck as speculation."

"He who owns this diamond Koh-I-Noor will own the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God, or a woman, can wear it with impunity."

"It is a bloody stone [Koh-I-Noor] that stays with the conqueror, it has no loyalty but to the one who 'conquered the land' got it. It is not the possession of the stone that establishes the 'master ship' of the stone; it is the conquered land. The stone appears and falls in the laps of the conqueror. This is one stone that like a masters cannot be sold neither can be hidden and it is always found. It so far over centuries had the tendency to move towards the subcontinent."

"I think it's fun to look at people with big diamonds. I see them in my audience all the time, with the fur coat, a woman whose hand is always out front, or the two fingers are on the cheek to show her diamond. I don't have anything against that."

"Many individuals have, like uncut diamonds, shining qualities beneath a rough exterior."

"Great virtues may draw attention from defects, they cannot sanctify them. A pebble surrounded by diamonds remains a common stone, and a diamond surrounded by pebbles is still a gem."

"For diamonds, almost all companies require their suppliers to comply with the Kimberley Process, which should allow them to identify the country of origin of their diamonds, though the scheme suffers from a number of weaknesses. None of the companies can identify all of their diamonds’ individual mines of origin."

"At least 70 percent of diamonds are cut and polished in India, largely because of low labor costs, while approximately 20 percent are cut and polished in China. Once diamonds are cut and polished, they are sent to jewelry manufacturers, and finally, to retailers. The United States is the largest market for diamond jewelry, accounting for over 40 percent of the world’s demand for polished diamonds."

"After rough diamonds are mined, they typically are exported to diamond trading hubs (or exchanges,) where they are sorted according to shape, color, size, and carat. The largest diamond trading hubs are in Antwerp and Dubai."

"Approximately 130 million carats of rough diamonds are mined every year, including both gem-quality and industrial diamonds; about 70 percent, or 90 million carats, are gem quality. Russia, Botswana, Canada, and Australia are the world’s largest diamond producers, and the 10 largest mines account for over half of the world’s diamond production."

"For millions of workers, gold and diamond mining is an important source of income. But the conditions under which gold and diamonds are mined can be brutal. Children have been injured and killed when working in small-scale gold or diamond mining pits. Indigenous peoples and other local residents near mines have been forcibly displaced. In war, civilians have suffered enormously as abusive armed groups have enriched themselves by exploiting gold and diamonds. Mines have polluted waterways and soil with toxic chemicals, harming the health and livelihoods of whole communities."

"Kimberlite intrusives are generally exposed over relatively small surface areas. They occur in the form of pipes, dikes, and sills that they may crop out over an area of a few hectares at the most. Other diamondiferous host rocks exhibit similar characteristics. For example , lamproite, another host rock, may occur in the form of dikes, sills, and small volcanoes . But lapmproite are much rarer than kimberlite."

"Diamond deposits are not easily found. Diamonds occur in some of the rarest rock types on the surface of the earth, and when found, they are disseminated in trace amounts even in the richest deposits."

"Diamonds have inspired dreams of wealth and power throughout history...some diamonds are so valuable that a person can literally carry a king’s ransom in pocket."

"The more the diamond is cut the brighter it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing, there God has no end in view but to perfect His people."

"Unsurprisingly, in these more eco-aware times, interest in ‘ethical diamonds’ is also growing. Two organisations, Amnesty International and Global Witness, have worked over the past few years to help the jewellery industry: it’s a real victory for human rights that it’s now illegal to trade in conflict diamonds, and any government trading in diamonds must certify that shipments of uncut diamonds are conflict-free."

"Over the years, the diamond industry has had a devastating impact in countries such as Sierra Leone, Angola and the Congo, where profits from the sale of diamonds have been used to fund brutal wars, with disastrous effects on local communities."

"Perhaps time’s definition of coal is the diamond."

"Allow God to use the difficulties and disappointments in life as polish to transform your faith into a glistening diamond that takes in and reflects His love. What beauty he will create."

"It is scarcity and plenty that make the vulgar take things to be precious or worthless; they call a diamond very beautiful because it is like pure water, and then would not exchange one for ten barrels of water."

"You're a shooting star I see A vision of ecstasy When you hold me, I'm alive We're like diamonds in the sky At first sight I felt the energy of sun rays I saw the life inside your eyes So shine bright, tonight you and I We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky Eye to eye, so alive We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky Shine bright like a diamond Shine bright like a diamond Shining bright like a diamond We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky"

"A diamond is a portion of crystalized carbon. That is what we have all been for so many years admiring; that is what the Greeks call adamas (the unconquerable) that is what Mrs Jones calls “a diamont,” and to which all sorts of poets and lovers have likened the prettiest and sweetest, and brightest eyes which ever shone."

"There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self."

"Yeah, it's tough being smart and sexy, too. I have to say, I'm really not that attractive. Until I met my husband, I could not get a date. I promise you it's true. My husband Jeff Richmond saw a diamond in the rough and took me in."

"The Koh-I-Noor is at present decidedly the lion of the Exhibition. A mysterious interest appears to be attached to it, and now that so many precautions have been resorted to, and so much difficulty attends its inspection, the crowd is enormously enhanced, and the policemen at either end of the covered entrance have much trouble in restraining the struggling and impatient multitude. For some hours yesterday there were never less than a couple of hundred persons waiting their turn of admission, and yet, after all, the diamond does not satisfy. Either from the imperfect cutting or the difficulty of placing the lights advantageously, or the immovability of the stone itself, which should be made to revolve on its axis, few catch any of the brilliant rays it reflects when viewed at a particular angle."

"The major investors in the diamond mines created the instrument in 1888 called De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., and incorporated in South Africa. De Beers proved to be the most successful cartel arrangement in the annals of modern commerce. The diamond invention is far more than a monopoly for fixing diamond prices; it is a mechanism for converting tiny crystals of carbon into universally recognized tokens of wealth, power, and romance ..."A Diamond Is Forever" became the official motto of De Beers."

"The diamond invention—the creation of the idea that diamonds are rare and valuable, and are essential signs of esteem—is a relatively recent development in the history of the diamond trade. Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds were found only in a few riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil, and the entire world production of gem diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. In 1870, however, huge diamond mines were discovered near the Orange River, in South Africa, where diamonds were soon being scooped out by the ton. Suddenly, the market was deluged with diamonds."

"Why do people like these things? They're just shiny rocks."