April’s birthstone is diamond, a gemstone that is among the most expensive and desired in the world, and is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite. Also possessing a cubic crystalline structure, which is achieved when carbon crystallizes, after the use of a large amount of energy.
The term «diamond» comes from the Greek «adamas» which means «invincible»., in reference to its composition and structure. For its part, in Sanskrit it is called “vajra”, a term that means lightning; and since ancient times it is believed that its use serves to increase strength and purity, which are characteristics of these gems.
The first diamonds were found about 3,000 years ago in India.where they were used as a religious symbol of power in rituals and ceremonies, as well as in jewelry, while those of lower quality were used as tools to make engravings, due to their great hardness.
In astrology it belongs to the fire element, it is one of the protective stones of the Aries sign, and it is associated with the planets Venus, Saturn and the Sun.. It also symbolizes strength and power, which is why people born in this month find in this gem a great element of protection. Likewise, this stone provides those born in April with a very strong personality, being able to seem harsh at certain times, since they act with security and determination in the face of the circumstances that life puts in their way.
Most naturally found diamonds are white.; they have an isometric-hexoctahedral crystal system; and its crystalline forms are the cube, the dodecahedron, the octahedron and the rhombododecahedron. In general, the April birthstone does not have inclusions of elements such as nitrogen and boron, which are the elements that produce other colors, such as blue, green, pink, yellow, red, etc., which are considered rare and are usually the most expensive.
The April birthstone, on the other hand, has a refractive index of 2.4175-2.4178 and a density of 3.5-3.53g/cm3; being classified into three categories: gem quality, industrial quality and crushing-bort or bort; which has the lowest quality and is collected to be ground into diamond dust, which is used during the carving process.
It was in the 19th century when diamonds began to be cut; with the appearance of technological advances that facilitated cutting and faceting, and made the pieces more perfect; to achieve today diamonds of extraordinary beauty. In the 20th century, much progress was made technologically, and diamonds can currently be obtained in a laboratory, which are difficult to distinguish from their natural counterpartwhich has allowed to standardize and globalize the way of classifying them, taking into account the weight or carats, size, color and purity or clarity.
Nevertheless, only 20% of the world’s production of rough diamonds is used to make jewelry, the rest is used in different types of industries; because, for these purposes, the gem must have an excellent quality in terms of the level of purity and color.
The April birthstone has a hardness of 10, the highest value on the Mohs scale.; In addition to having high transparency and high thermal conductivity, to the point of being widely used in the industry for different purposes, as well as being one of the most used gemstones in the world of jewelry.
However, As for its use in jewelry, the April birthstone is associated with eternity and lasting love., so it is used to create beautiful engagement, anniversary and birth jewelry. Which are imported from the main producing countries in the world, such as: Namibia, Botswana, Sierra Leone, China, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Guinea, Tanzania, Russia, Canada, Lesotho, among others. Being Russia, the country that according to the Statinvestor website, by 2017 had the largest diamond reserves in the world, with an estimated 650 million carats.
To give an example of the most famous diamonds in the world, we are going to cite some of them, such as the “Star of Africa” diamond, which is currently the largest cut diamond in the worldweighing 530.20 carats and is part of the set of jewels of British royalty.
We also have the “Hope” diamond; which is an extraordinary and rare 115 carat blue diamond; and the third largest cut diamond in the world, called «Centenario», which has a weight of 273.85 carats.
As we can see, in addition to being the birthstone for April, the diamond has become the symbol of eternal love, not only worn by people born in this month, but most women want to have a jewel that symbolizes strength and unwavering love, capable of overcoming obstacles and lasting a lifetime.