Featuring photomicrographs* of diamonds and
stories from my personal collection

*A photomicrograph is a photograph or digital image taken through a microscope or similar device to show a magnified image of an object.
I shot each of these photomicrographs using a GIA 30X Microscope 🔬 and an iPhone 📱(except where noted).

FUN FACT: Did you know that for centuries, diamonds have been the most concentrated, portable form of wealth known to humankind?

Featured here is an amazing photomicrograph of a rough diamond so tiny it was glued to the head of a pin [for scale, it was the size of a piece of coarse salt]! Despite the small size, you can clearly see trigons ^^^ which are surface feature…

Featured here is an amazing photomicrograph of a rough diamond so tiny it was glued to the head of a pin [for scale, it was the size of a piece of coarse salt]! Despite the small size, you can clearly see trigons ^^^ which are surface features that occur during the diamond’s growth process deep within the Earth's mantle. Trigons can be used to distinguish rough natural diamonds from laboratory grown diamonds. Some diamond polishers will leave a trigon on a finished diamond for this reason.

In the industry, we call a trigon that is intentionally preserved on a polished diamond a “natural’.

 
Orange+Mackle.jpg

Photo Credit: California Diamonds

Two separate faces of a rough diamond

SPECIFICATIONS
Color: Orange
Clarity: IF [Internally Flawless]
Carat Weight: 0.20
Shape: Mackle
Origin: Angola

 
The diamond pictured here was the victim of an unfortunate accident. Diamonds are the hardest, natural substance known to man. Despite this fact, I managed to fracture this diamond while it was set in a beautiful platinum ring. Why did it break? …

The diamond pictured here was the victim of an unfortunate accident. Diamonds are the hardest, natural substance known to man. Despite this fact, I managed to fracture this diamond while it was set in a beautiful platinum ring. Why did it break? Diamond is formed in the cubic crystal system and has four perfect and easy cleavage directions. A cleavage plane is the weakest direction in the molecular arrangement of the crystal. If a diamond is struck along the cleavage, it can fracture!

Moral of this story:
BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR DIAMONDS
They are not indestructible!

 
This is a photomicrograph of a brown diamond with another diamond which formed inside! Look at the many trigons ^^^ on the trapped diamond.

This is a photomicrograph of a brown diamond with another diamond which formed inside!
Look at the many trigons ^^^ on the trapped diamond.