A 404-carat Diamond Unearthed

I feel like I have just given the stats of a newly born baby. It was mined from a diamond field called Lulo by an Australian based diamond company named Lucapa. Previously Angola had set a record for a 217.4-carat diamond that was discovered there in 2007.

Maybe I’m a terrible girl, but I always forget the 4 C’s of Diamonds. Here’s a refresher in case you need one:

Carat – the word “carat” comes from the Arab word for carob, carob seeds were used in early trading days to determine the weight of diamonds. Obviously, today we have accurate scales to measure the diamonds but for the time, carob seeds were a highly reliable unit of measurement.

Cut – cut is necessary because it has the greatest single influence on the diamond’s sparkle.

Clarity – Clarity is evaluated by looking at the gem under 10x magnification. Almost all diamonds have tiny natural birthmarks and those serve as the identifying “fingerprint” that makes it unique.

Color – the color refers to a diamond’s body color, not the rainbow surface or reflected light.

Did you know? The diamond company De Beers, with the help of an advertising agency in New York named N.W. Ayer created an advertising campaign in 1938 that said giving diamond engagement rings should be a thing and thus a tradition was born.