From the 4th century BC up into the 18th century, India was the only country in the world where diamonds were found. From the second half of the 19th century, South Africa developed into the world's largest producer. Over time, additional players emerged on the world market, such as Australia, Sierra Leone, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada and Russia.

The fact that the most precious stones in the world are 'made' from a cheap raw material such as carbon would seem rather unlikely. But the production process demands an environment and natural forces which cannot be replicated by human hands. Moreover, the crystallisation of carbon into a rough diamond takes millions of years.

Few stones survive the rigorous journey from some 200 kilometres deep in the earth's crust to the surface. The usual route leads along swirling lava streams. Once on the surface, the diamonds are locked into volcano debris. These must first be mined and then processed. Approximately 250 tons of rock is processed for each cut and polished 1-carat diamond.

The predominant habit (shape) of the rough diamond is that of an octahedron. The classic octahedron appears like 2, four sided pyramids stuck together at their base, with the sides of the pyramid on top basically lining up with the sides on the bottom.

Now we know where diamonds come from and in what shape they are found. The next topic is about the diamond polishing process.