From unpolished stone to sparkling diamond...

When you walk into a jewelry store and see all the diamonds for sale in all the various settings, or when you go online and look at exquisite diamond jewelry, it is difficult to realize that diamonds are indeed rare.

Most people don’t even stop to consider how that diamond came to be the rare and beautiful piece it is! There is quite a bit of work that is done before a stone becomes a diamond that is ready for sale to the general public!

Here are some interesting statistics:

• For every 1,000,000 diamonds that are mined, only one will be found that is a quality 1 carat diamond.
• In order to find a 2 carat diamond, about 5,000,000 diamonds must be mined.
• More than two hundred tons of ore must be mined to find one small diamond and, even then, more than 80% of the diamonds that are mined are only good for industrial use, such as diamond drill bits.

The pages in this section will give you a host of interesting facts about diamonds. Find out how diamonds are mined, how they are screened and sorted, and the painstaking cutting process that transforms a dull stone into a brilliant and fiery diamond. You may also want to take a look at some of the most famous diamonds in the world.

So, the next time you visit your local jewelry store or shop online, think about what has gone into creating that diamond or that piece of jewelry. You will begin to look at it with new appreciation – knowing that it truly is one in a million!

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