What are diamonds?
A: Diamonds are one of the best-known and most sought-after gemstones.
They have been used as “what” since ancient times.
A: Decorative items.
The process of diamonds being used for drilling
ornamental beads dates to when?
A: The 2nd millennium BC.
Archaeologists working in Yemen have excavated beads
with evidence of diamond drilling from 1200 BC to 1st century AD from what
site?
A: The site of Hajar ar Rayhani.
The double diamond drill technique was present in
Western India prior to when?
A: 600 BC (7th century BC).
There is also evidence of technique of double diamond
drilling from Southern Thailand dating back to when?
A: 400 BC.
Before diamonds were discovered in Brazil in the 1700s,
where was the only place where diamonds were mined?
A: India.
Early references to diamonds in India come from what?
A: Sanskrit texts.
The Arthashastra of Kautilya mentions what?
A: The diamond trade in India.
Buddhist works dating from the 4th century BC describe
the diamond as a what?
A: A well-known and precious stone but do not mention the details of diamond
cutting.
An Indian description written in the 3rd century
describes strength, regularity, brilliance, ability to scratch metals, and
“what” as the desirable qualities of a diamond?
A: Good refractive properties.
Diamonds were traded to the east and west of India and
were recognized by various cultures for their what?
A: Gemmological or industrial uses.
Diamonds eventually spread where?
A: Throughout the world.
India remained the only major source of the gemstone
until diamonds were discovered in what country?
A: Brazil in 1725.
A Chinese work from the 3rd century BC mentions what?
A: “Foreigners wear it in the belief that it can ward off evil influences".
The Chinese, who did not find diamonds in their
country, initially did not use diamond as a jewel but used it as what?
A: A "jade cutting knife".
Diamonds reached ancient Rome from where?
A: India.
Diamonds were also discovered in 700 in Borneo and were
used by whom?
A: The traders of southeast Asia.
When did the modern era of diamond mining begin?
A: In the 1860s in Kimberley, South Africa with the opening of the first
large-scale diamond mine.
The first diamond there was found in 1866 on the banks
of what?
A: The Orange River and became known as the Eureka Diamond.
In 1869, an even larger 83.50-carat (16.700 g; 0.5891
oz) diamond was found on the slopes of Colesberg Kopje on the farm
Vooruitzigt belonging to whom?
A: The De Beers brothers.
This sparked off the famous "New Rush" and within a
month, how many claims were cut into the hillock which were worked
frenetically by two to three thousand men?
A: 800.
As the land was lowered the hillock became a what?
A: A mine—in time, the world-renowned Kimberley Mine.
From 1871 to 1914, 50,000 miners dug the Big Hole with
picks and shovels, yielding how many pounds of diamonds?
A: 6,001 lb.
1873 Kimberley was the second largest town in South
Africa, having an approximate population of how many?
A: 40,000.