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  1. Diamonds are almost 100% pure carbon. It requires extreme pressure and temperatures around 1,600Cº

  2. Diamonds formed at depths of 140-200 kilometres from the earths surface.

  3. At least 1 tonne of earth has to be mined to find four carats (0.8 grammes) of diamond.

  4. Only 20 % of diamonds mined are gem quality, the other 80% are used for industrial purposes.

  5. The largest diamond producing countries are Australia by volume and Botswana by value.

  6. The only mineral that can cut diamond is diamond – however now days lasers can be used in some of the cutting process.

  7. The Eureka diamond (10.73 carats) is of extraordinary historical importance as it was the first officially recorded diamond on the African continent in 1866.

  8. The rarest naturally occurring colour of diamond is red as only 10 have been discovered so far.

  9. The world’s smallest brilliant cut diamond weighs only 0.0006 carats. The microscopically small diamond has 58 facets – the same as most brilliant cut diamonds.

  10. The Cullinan 1 is the centrepiece of the sceptre from the British crown jewels. It was cut from the largest rough diamond discovered weighing 3,106 carats.