Gems,Diamonds,Bullions

Unlike colored gemstones, most of which form in Earth's crust—diamonds form deep in Earth's mantle. Earth's crust contains a lot of geochemical variability, meaning that the makeup of the crust in one region can vary widely from the makeup of the crust in another region. Gems that form in the crust incorporate high amounts of trace elements as they grow. This diversity of elements and inclusions is what allows gemologists to determine the country of origin of colored gemstones, such as rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

Can diamond origin be determined in the same way? Not quite. Diamonds form in the mantle, where geochemical makeup is relatively uniform, and were then shot up to Earth’s surface by kimberlite volcanoes. The concentrations of trace elements in diamonds are extremely low and measuring them accurately is a huge challenge, but the measurements made to date do not appear to show unique signatures tied to geographic origin. Diamonds from different deposits can have similar trace element characteristics, while diamonds from the same deposit can have vastly different trace element characteristics. Currently, the most reliable way of determining a diamond's origin is through documentation and tracing.

Is there a possibility in the future of using unique diamond characteristics to determine a diamond's geographic origin? Read the upcoming November issue of G&G to find out.

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