The Diamond Codex — All Sections & Articles

A

History & Origins

4,000 years. Ancient India to modern industry.

Ancient India & the Golconda era

For 2,000 years, India was the only source of diamonds in the world.

The Africa discovery — 1866

How a boy's stone on the Orange River changed the world.

The De Beers founding story

Cecil Rhodes, Barney Barnato, and how one company controlled diamonds for a century.

A Diamond is Forever

The marketing campaign that made diamonds synonymous with love.

Coming soon

Colonial trade routes

How diamonds moved from India and Africa to European hands.

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The modern era

Russia, Canada, Australia — new sources that broke De Beers' monopoly.

B

Geology & Formation

How carbon becomes diamond. The science.

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How diamonds form

Carbon under extreme pressure — the billion-year process explained.

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Kimberlite pipes

The volcanic chimneys that carry diamonds to the surface.

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Alluvial deposits

River-carried diamonds — how they travel and where they settle.

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Diamond vs graphite

Same element. Completely different structure. How carbon decides what it becomes.

C

Mining

Every method. Every major mine. Every company.

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Types of diamond mining

Open pit, underground, alluvial, marine — each method explained.

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Major mines of the world

Jwaneng, Orapa, Argyle, Mir, Ekati — every significant mine, named and mapped.

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Mining technology

XRT sorters, DMS drums, laser sorters — the machines behind modern diamond extraction.

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Mining companies

De Beers, Alrosa, Rio Tinto, Lucara — who owns what and how they operate.

D

Cutting & Polishing

From rough to brilliant. Surat's story.

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History of diamond cutting

From the point cut to the modern brilliant — 600 years of evolution.

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Planning & scanning technology

How 3D scanning and AI plan the perfect cut before a blade touches stone.

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The cutting process

Cleaving, sawing, bruting, blocking — each stage with machines and brands named.

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The Surat story

How a Gujarat city became the diamond cutting capital of the world.

E

The 4Cs & Grading

Highest search priority

Start here

The complete 4Cs guide

Cut, colour, clarity and carat — all four in one definitive article.

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Cut — the most important C

Proportions, angles, light performance — why cut matters most.

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Colour — the D-to-Z scale

What every grade looks like and when colour becomes visible.

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Clarity — inclusions explained

FL to I3 — every clarity grade, what's inside, what's visible.

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Carat — size vs weight

Why carat weight and physical size are different things.

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4C buying guide

Which C to prioritise at every budget level — practical advice.

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Fancy colour diamonds

Pink, blue, yellow, green — a completely different grading world.

F

Grading Labs

GIA, IGI, HRD — every lab compared.

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GIA explained

The world's most respected gem laboratory — what they do and how.

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IGI explained

The lab that dominates lab-grown certification — how it works.

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GIA vs IGI — the honest comparison

Standards, reputation, price differences — what to choose and why.

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Global lab directory

GIA, IGI, HRD, AGS, GSI, GCAL, NGTC — all labs with contacts.

G

Lab-Grown Diamonds

Trending — highest search growth

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What is a lab-grown diamond?

Chemically identical to natural. Physically identical. How is it different?

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The HPHT process

High pressure, high temperature — mimicking earth's conditions in a machine.

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The CVD process

Chemical vapour deposition — how carbon gas becomes a diamond.

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Natural vs lab-grown — the honest answer

No sales pitch. Just the real differences and how to decide.

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The price collapse

Lab-grown prices fell 80% in four years. What happened and what it means.

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Producer directory

Element Six, IIa Technologies, Lightbox — every major lab-grown producer named.

N

Supply Chain Directory

Named sources only. No intermediaries.

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World diamond mines directory

Every significant mine — operator, output, stone type, how to access rough.

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India diamond sources directory

India's only active mine (Panna) + the full Surat cutting factory ecosystem.

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Surat cutting factory directory

Major factories by zone, with verified contacts. Factories only — no traders.

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Rough diamond trading

Sights, tenders, auctions — how rough changes hands from mine to cutter.

L

Famous Diamonds

Each stone's biography, fully told.

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The Koh-i-Noor

Stolen, gifted, cursed, crowned — the most controversial diamond in history.

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The Hope Diamond

The blue diamond that passed through kings, collectors, and a curse.

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The Cullinan

The largest diamond ever found — and the nine stones it became.

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The Pink Star

$71.2M at auction — the most expensive diamond ever sold.

P

India Diamond Industry

The story nobody has told properly. Until now.

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The Surat ecosystem

800,000 artisans. 90% of the world's diamonds. How one city became everything.

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Mumbai — the trading capital

Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar, the Mumbai Diamond Bourse — how the trade flows.

Coming soon

BIS hallmarking in India

Mandatory since 2021 — what the marks mean and how to read them.

Coming soon

GST & import duties on diamonds

1.5% on rough. 1.5% on polished. 3% on jewellery. Explained clearly.