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Essay on 'history of diamond
Research on diamonds
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The word diamond is originated from the Greek word, adámas, meaning invincible. While in todays’ time diamonds are used to convey love and wealth, diamonds were first used, about 3,000 years ago, in India for a more beneficial cause. During that time they were desired, not only for their value but for their refraction of light. During the past 3,000 years there have been many myths associated with diamonds. Some beliefs were conspired based on forms of metaphysical properties, medical treatments, and a curse resulting in the death of all who owned it.
Diamonds are credited to holding metaphysical properties of immense power and strength. In magical terms, it is the element of fire and is associated with the sun. In India they were believed to protect the person wearing the stone from fires, poisons, snakes, sickness, and other forms of witchcraft. While the Romans believed that if one was worn over the left arm the diamond would provide protection and make them invincible in battle. Others have thought that by faceting a diamond with six sides it will bring the wearer not only power and strength, but lifelong luck as well. For many years diamonds were only possessed by kings, but during the 1500’s they were used in judicial proceedings. At that time diamonds were claimed to hold a power that caused the guilty to profess the truth. To this day many practice craft with diamonds believing they hold powers of spirituality, protection, healing, and many others.
Diamonds have also been used as medical treatments for disease and common sickness. During the Dark Ages many religions, including the Catholic faith, held some belief that holding a diamond in the right hand, while making the sign of the cross would heal wounds and most sickn...
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...any today who believe Harry Winston donated the diamond to rid himself of its curse.
To some, the myths and curses of the world hold little power, but to others it formats their entire culture or religion. Over thousands of years people have formulated stories surrounding not only diamonds, but other gemstones as well. It is practiced in religious and symbolic ceremonies that we still believe in today. From offering a diamond ring as a symbol of love and unity to a diamond gift of appreciation for a sixty year anniversary we show that in some form we believe that a diamond can bring unity, love, and longevity. Although the majority of claims happened many years ago, and can be proven false today, they have helped mold the history of the diamond. Diamonds are forever; not only because they are invincible, but because they have a lasting connection to our history.
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
A diamond ain't a thing in the world but a piece of dirt that got
Jewelry has been worn by people in almost every civilization around the globe in every century. These accessories can often tell a lot about a civilization. One can especially compare the jewelry of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome to get an accurate idea of the time period and how people's customs evolved within that area and that time. Jewelry in ancient times were very similar in that they were often made of identical materials, showed status of the people living within a society and the sophistication of the civilization itself; however, the way the jewelry was produced and complexity of the design changed with time.
Reynolds points out that the sculpture is not constructed from actual emerald, but an alternate “deep bluish-green” stone. Historically it has been identified as an emerald structure. Not only is the representation of the Buddha important, so is the material from which the image was carved. While it is not actually emerald, the color of the image still carries significance: green is associated with fertility and renewal. Reynolds states, “…the power of such jewels to bring relief from disease, to hasten childbirth, to restore sight, to increase wealth and the like” meaning that worshippers associate the color of the jewel with spiritual power. In one account from the Buddhist chronicles, the Jewel displays its magical ability by destroying a shelter built by a ruler by conjuring lightning. The Jewel decided it did not want to reside in the shelter. In this case, the Jewel almost shows anthropomorphic power. This example provides a description of the Jewel’s spiritual quality. The Holy Emerald Jewel is more than an image, it is a sacred object that is revered for its mythical and symbolic
Women buying diamonds for themselves, for the joy of wearing them invested in jewelry in case of emergency.
A beautiful precious diamond can last forever, but what most people do not know is that a majority of our diamonds come from Africa. The civil wars in Africa over diamonds began around 1961 and ended in 2003. Conflict diamonds were rampant and it would be difficult to say if any jewelry sold prior to 2003 was conflict free. Conflict diamonds are diamonds that have been mined and were controlled by African rebels. The rebels would use the profits from selling conflict diamonds to fund illegal activity and to purchase more weapons for their armies. While rebels had control of the diamond mines they killed approximately 4 million people and countless families were displaced.
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France from 1770 to 1797 was despised by the people of France. Their hatred of her and the monarchy in general led to the French Revolution. Many issues led to the unpopularity of Queen Maria Antoinette, her vanity, her disregard for the people, but perhaps the most significant was the Affair of the Diamond Necklace.
Engagement rings initially served a double purpose. In the days when brides were purchased, these rings were partial payment for the bride in addition to symbolizing the groom's intentions and woman's agreement. Diamonds were first found in Medieval Italy and due to their hardness symbolized enduring love.
The cultural diamond can be best understood and explained through an analysis of its framework and linkages. The diamond consists of four corners: the cultural object, the receiver, the creator and the social world.
Diamond is a native crystalline carbon that is the hardest known mineral. It is a nearly transparent precious stone. Noble and dazzling diamonds can be said as the desire jewelry of every woman. From the aspect of economic, scarce resources cannot fill the needs of all people. The natural diamonds can only be enjoyed by a small part of people due to its expensive price. However, today’s modern technologies can process artificial gems which have lower cost compared to the natural diamonds. Its high quality even makes the diamond experts hard to distinguish the differences from the appearances because both have same basic physical and chemical properties. There’s only a way to differentiate between natural and synthetic diamonds which is by studying their impurities both microscopic and atomic level.
In summation we see that in today’s society we have dropped a lot of the religious significance to jewelry and now use for decorating and making one ’s self unique. There is still a religious aspect to some things, crosses being the most known example and also one that can be argued hasn’t changed that much since ancient Egypt, but the idea of needing the jewelry for the afterlife has faded away. I think this reflects the fact that today’s society is very secular and religion in general is declining.
For the past sixty-seven years, the citizens of India have embraced their country’s independence all the while seeking to regain their past. Prior to this renewed sense of freedom, India had belonged to the British Empire. From 1858 to 1947, the British government claimed India and its inhabitants as a colonial possession. Before the British Empire laid claim to the vastness of India, the British East India Company helped to oversee the transfer of the Kohinoor Diamond from the Sikh Empire to their motherland in 1851.
I first encountered a lovely crystal by the name of Amethyst about 4 years ago. A friend gave it to me and told me that it would help me in this period of my life. I did not really know how or why a pretty little “rock” would help me out but, I took it with gratitude and kept it in my pocket. Sometime had passed and then I came across another gemstone. When a second stone came into my life it gave me a sense to actually look it up and find out what these stones meant and why they started to pop up into my life. During this journey, I found out that gemstones and crystals have many ancient and contemporary uses. They have much history and many legends attached to them. There are also many theories of how gemstones and crystals work, hundreds of practical applications and many lists of their healing and spiritual properties.
"The Necklace" or "The Diamond Necklace" is a short story by Guy De Maupassant, first published on 17th, February 1884, in the French newspaper Le Gaulois. The story has become one of Maupassant's popular works and is well known for its ending. It is also the inspiration for Henry James's short story, "Paste". It has been dramatised as a musical by the Irish composer Conor Mitchell; it was first produced professionally by Thomas Hopkins and Andrew Jenkins for Surefire Theatrical Ltd at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007.