What Are Black Diamonds and Where Do They Come From

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    Introduction

    Whether black diamonds are real diamonds has always been a part of the discussion of diamond aficionados. Black diamonds have a lot of mysterious and exciting facts that everyone needs to know about. While it is evident that it is not the typical diamond due to its color, black diamonds are considered real diamonds. This hard to ignore and exquisite element comes from a unique composition that makes it one of a kind.

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    What Are Black Diamonds?

    Black diamond or Carbonado is formed with a polycrystalline diamond composed of graphite, diamond, and amorphous carbon. It is commonly found in Brazil and the Central African Republic, where it is abundantly formed in alluvial deposits. Black diamonds are originated in younger forms of sedimentary rocks and adjacent to natural water sources. Unlike other diamonds, carbonados can’t be found in kimberlites, and some comprise a higher level of carbon.

    Diamonds are forever because of their strength and resiliency, but black diamonds are more rigid and durable than any other type of diamond. In the Mohs hardness scale, carbonados measure ten, making it extra challenging to cut and requires a skilled cutter to do the procedure.

    Types of Black Diamond

    There are three types of genuine black diamonds—naturally black diamonds, man-made black diamonds, and treated black diamonds. While all these are real diamonds, there is a massive difference in each type’s characteristics and value.

    • Natural Black Diamonds: These are the types of black-coloured diamonds due to the impurities caught by them during the formation of polycrystalline diamonds. It is composed of an extreme amount of graphite inside which resulted in its black color.
    • Man-made Black Diamonds: Man-made or lab-grown diamonds are those produced using advanced and hi-tech products. Compared to natural diamonds, lab-grown black diamonds are considered cheaper. Natural and man-made diamonds have not much difference in aesthetics, but the latter has girdle inscriptions that one can see using a microscope.
    • Treated Black Diamonds: It is another type of black diamond that is less expensive due to its number of inclusions. Fundamentally, it is produced from a colorless diamond that has been developed and treated. It undergoes low-pressure or high-temperature treatments, which graphitize its fractures to make them appear black.

    Origins of Black Diamonds

    Aside from the question if carbonados are natural diamonds, another topic that comes with this element is its actual origin. Geologists and scientists have divided opinions about the natural source of colored diamonds, particularly black ones. Various theories are constructed and tagged with carbonados. Some even formulated their hypotheses about it, and even up to this day, the issue regarding its existence is still under serious debate.

    The standard hypothesis regarding the formation of diamond is the direct conversion of high-pressure organic carbon located in the earth’s interior. Many believe that it is triggered by meteoritic impact within the earth’s surface. Other theories consider the radiation due to the sudden breaking up of thorium and uranium elements. In comparison, some theorize that black diamonds are remnants of an asteroid coming from interstellar space.

    Others also consider that the formation of black diamonds is from the explosion of a supernova that hit the Earth billions of years ago. When it drifted to outer space, the gigantic mass went directly to the earth in a meteorite form. Many believed that carbonados fragmented upon their entry to the planet’s atmosphere, which landed and split into the Central African Republic and Brazil regions, being the two areas rich in black diamonds. However, these formulated hypotheses are still unconsidered to be factual in the scientific world.

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