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April Birthstone: Diamond
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DIAMOND

“Diamond” comes from the Greek word, adamas, meaning invincible or unbreakable. As you could guess, “adamant” also stems from this word!
In Sanskrit, the diamond is called vajra, which also means lightning; in Hindu mythology, vajra was the weapon of Indra, the king of gods. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, is said to have described the gem in this way: “Diamond is the most valuable, not only of precious stones, but of all things in this world.”
It was once thought that a diamond could ward off the evil eye, which was said to cause sickness, poverty, and possibly death. In history, the diamond was believed to have healing powers, act as an antidote to poison, and provide protection against the plague. During the Middle Ages, diamonds were thought to cure ailments of the pituitary gland and the brain. Before the process in which diamonds are created was discovered, some ancient civilizations believed lightning formed them, while others thought they were the tears of God.
In addition to being a symbol of eternal love and marriage, some thought carrying a diamond would provide strength, beauty, and happiness. Other potential benefits included balance, clarity, and abundance. If you dream of wearing diamond earrings, you will receive good financial advice. The diamond is not only the April birthstone, but it is also the gem given to celebrate 60th and 75th wedding anniversaries.
DATABASES
“Diamond” comes from the Greek word, adamas, meaning invincible or unbreakable. As you could guess, “adamant” also stems from this word! In Sanskrit, the diamond is called vajra, which also means lightning; in Hindu mythology, vajra was the weapon of Indra, the king of gods. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, is said to have described the gem in this way: “Diamond is the most valuable, not only of precious stones, but of all things in this world.” It was once thought that a diamond could ward off the evil eye, which was said to cause sickness, poverty, and possibly death. In history, the diamond was believed to have healing powers, act as an antidote to poison, and provide protection against the plague. During the Middle Ages, diamonds were thought to cure ailments of the pituitary gland and the brain. Before the process in which diamonds are created was discovered, some ancient civilizations believed lightning formed them, while others thought they were the tears of God. In addition to being a symbol of eternal love and marriage, some thought carrying a diamond would provide strength, beauty, and happiness. Other potential benefits included balance, clarity, and abundance. If you dream of wearing diamond earrings, you will receive good financial advice. The diamond is not only the April birthstone, but it is also the gem given to celebrate 60th and 75th wedding anniversaries.
Fancy color diamonds are true miracles of nature. The geological conditions needed to create these colors are rare, making them scarce and highly prized. They come in pale pinks and blues, bright yellows, oranges, greens, reds and brown colors like cognac and champagne. Fancy color diamonds are evaluated by their color intensity, unlike colorless diamonds that are graded on their fire and brilliance. Shades that are deep and distinct in color are rated more highly than light or pale shades. GIA evaluates color in terms of hue, tone and saturation. Hue refers to the diamond’s color, tone refers to the color’s lightness or darkness and saturation refers the color’s depth. Using highly controlled viewing conditions and color comparisons, a fancy color grader selects one of 27 hues, then describes tone and saturation with terms such as “Fancy Light,” “Fancy Intense” and “Fancy Vivid.” This color system was developed by GIA and is used worldwide. Today, yellow diamonds are thought of as “traditional” and are among the most abundant of all “fancy colored” diamonds. Red, green, purple and orange diamonds are generally the rarest, followed by blue and pink.
Wearing an engagement ring on the third finger of the left hand dates back to the ancient Agyptians, who believed that the ‘vein of love’ linked the heart and the ring finger. A diamond touching each corner of a house or garden offered protection from lightning and storms. It is said that Alexander the Great discovered the Valley of Diamonds on one of his campaigns in India. The valley was guarded by countless snakes, so Alexander devised a plan to get through them by using mirrors to fright the snakes away with their own reflection. It is believed by many that the famous Hope diamond caused the Titanic to sink as a result of its presence aboard the ship.
In Buddhism, the Buddha’s throne was made of diamonds, because the precious stone was a symbol of perfection and, because of translucence and brightness, of enlightenment. Tantric Buddhists had a word, vajra, which refers to both the thunderbolt and the diamond as symbols of enduring and powerful spiritual forces. In ancient Greek philosophy, too, diamonds have taken on similar symbolism: Plato talked of the world’s axis, or axis mundi, as being made of diamond. Pliny the Elder, a few centuries later, argued that diamonds possessed preservative and curative properties, warding off disease and driving away malevolent spirits. Pliny was a credulous soul, so we should take what he says with a pinch of salt, but here he appears to have been merely reflecting the wider belief in the symbolic properties of diamond.
Egypt: Ancient Egyptian images show diamonds as the centrepiece of the ankh, the cross-like symbol with a closed oval at the top, which was the symbol for life. At that time, the diamond stood for light and the sun, the source of all life. Even today the ankh is a very popular symbol for pendants, for instance, in the form of a diamond necklace. Ancient Rome and Greece: In ancient times, Greeks and Romans did not regard diamonds as precious stones; they were seen as tears of the gods or fragments of stars that had fallen from the sky. A supernatural symbol, the work of the gods on earth. In line with this, ownership outside temples was reserved only for the richest and most powerful. Even the arrow of Cupid, who could make anyone fall hopelessly in love, is said to have been made of diamond. Diamonds were also worked into armour or worn as chains, so the divine powers within them could pass to the wearer and make him invincible in battle. References to these supposedly magical abilities extend as far back as the European Middle Ages. Ancient India: In ancient India, the diamond was the ideal defence against all evil; the sparkle would simply reflect it. Along the same lines as the Roman and Greek ideas, diamonds were said to make the wearer invincible and also attract lightning to fill the wearer with divine strength.
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