Ep 10. The Making of a Diamond

Hello, hello, hello. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of The Zealous Disposition Podcast. Today’s topic centers around diamonds… I will share how diamonds are made, some of the uses for diamonds, and then wrap it up with some of my thoughts.

Have you ever thought about how diamonds are made and where they come from? We get bombarded with the bling in many aspects of our lives…from the entertainment industry…soon to be brides…and even the construction industry. We’ll talk about that last one in a few minutes.

Something about that sparkle…the shine… and the cost of a diamond should peak your interest in wondering more about them. So let’s break down the diamond.

Have you ever thought about how diamonds are made and where they come from?  Maybe you have or maybe you haven’t.  I bet some of the women out there are like,…”I don’t care how they’re made.  The only thing that matters is how good it looks on my finger!”  Personally, the thought has crossed my mind on numerous occasions. How could it not?  Turn on the radio a chances are that one of the songs you listen to will contain something associated with a diamond.  The artist may mention something about Carats, Shine, or even like the term Bling.  We can even find references in a movie or TV show we watch or even the latest app filter that makes everything all sparkle like that of the gem that easily draws attention.  Did you know that diamonds are also used in the construction industry as well?  We’ll touch on that a little later, though.  As you see, we get bombarded with the bling in many aspects of our lives…from the entertainment industry…soon to be brides…and even the construction industry. Hopefully, you interest is peak to learn more about where and how that sparkle and shine comes from a stone that many desire to have.  So with that…let’s break down the diamond.

Diamonds are made of Carbon.  Define Carbon.

What are diamonds made of?  Some think coal.  This is close but doesn’t really hit the mark.  You have to break it down further.  Carbon and Diamonds share the same element.  And that element is Carbon.  Carbon can be found in graphite, which is used in pencils, and as just mentioned…charcoal…and charcoal can even be use for filtration….in the form of activated charcoal used in respirators. But back to Carbon so we can move on to the diamond.  Carbon is even used to make Carbon Fiber.  You know, the stuff fishing rods, boats, prosthetics, and even supped up exotic sport cars.  Carbon is multifaceted, unique, and strong.  What gives it these qualities is its ability to form bonded chains.  Without going too deep…this allows atoms to ‘bond’ or join together which they can continue to build upon each other.  This bond  however doesn’t just happen on its own…there external factors that come into play.  And this leads us to the diamond is formed.

How are Diamonds formed?
We’ve just established that external factors are needed to aid in the bonding of atoms so carbon can become a diamond and for the purpose of this episode…will stick to three ways these factors are met.  The first way involves the Earth’s Mantle.

According to Geologist…they believe diamonds are formed in the Earth’s mantle.  Whether you believe in the Globe theory or the Flat Earth theory…the mantle is the next layer under the earth’s outer layer called the crust.  The crust is the layer we live on.

So…deep under the earth’s crust…in the mantle, the temperature is believe to reach approximately 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  That’s just a little be hotter than Texas.  The pressure is also believe to reach approximately 725,000 pounds per square inch.  That’s like having an ice cube weight as much as 240 cars.  These conditions are prime for the bonding process to take place.  The carbon then grows and grows over time until it is removed and pushed to the earth’s surface.

The diamonds are push to the surface by deep-sourced volcanic eruptions.  The conditions aren’t as harsh as the conditions that form diamonds so the diamonds are able to survive the ride.  Mining companies excavate these sites and remove to diamonds for the consumers.

Another way diamonds are formed is by a violent impact.  Such as an impact created from an asteroid hitting the earth’s surface.  It’s reported that throughout the history of the earth…large asteroids hit the earth repeatedly causing large craters.  The Popigai Crater in Sideria is considered to be an example of asteroid impact.  The enormous size coupled with the traveling speed made of the asteroid resulted in the prime conditions when colliding with the earth’s surface…especially if the impact area contains enough carbon.  These types of diamonds are rare but can be formed in such a way.

And for the purpose of this episode…the third way diamonds are form is from a synthetic process.  The credit for the first synthetic diamond made goes to General Electric in 1954.  The GE Laboratory used a process dubbed High Pressure High Temperature.  Sounds familiar huh?  The process was designed to mirror the natural process mentioned earlier.  Now another process is used called Chemical Vapor Deposition or CVD for short.

In CVD, a thin sample is cut from a diamond and place in a special piece of equipment.  This thin sample can be referred to as a seed.  In the equipment, the seed is place under pressure and heated in plasma to…air quotes…grow the diamond.  This process takes about 28 or so to complete.  Once completed, the lab “growing” the diamond yields a cubed shaped diamond.  Yup…that’s right…cubeb shaped.  It doesn’t emerge in the shape the we would expect.  To get the diamond in the many shapes that create the bling associated with the gem…you know the shapes…round…square cut…princess cut…heart…oval…pear…marquise and so on…other diamonds are used to sand…or should I say polish the newly grown diamond into shape.

There’s a long process in creating the diamond to be presented as a gem.  Without the long process, many people wouldn’t be able to tell this “rock” was a diamond.  This is where we get the term ‘a diamond in the rough”.  A diamond in it’s natural form doesn’t look anything like a diamond for jewelry.  I mentioned that other diamonds are used to shape a diamond into a gem so let’s now turn our attention to uses of diamonds.

Uses of Diamonds.

Bare with for a little bit longer….we’ll get to the point of the episode.  So, diamonds have other uses than making your ear…neck…wrist…or finger shine with bling.  Considered as the hardest material, the diamond has been used in many aspects of grinding, polishing, drilling, and cutting.

I’m sure you’ve heard of diamond coated drill bits, diamond coated files, or even diamond coated saw blades.  This coating helps extend the tools life.

For example…When you’re driving down the highway and construction has traffic backed-up because there extending lanes and fixing the damage to the older lanes…you might see someone using a large circular saw to cut the concrete.  That large saw is diamond coated.

And chances are…that nice granite countertop that you want or you have was cut, sanded, and polished with diamond coated tools.

So good information…now we know more about diamonds but what’s the main point and how does this apply to our lives.  Life is not all roses and butterflies.  Most of us will experience some type of hardship…if fact we may experience multiple hardships.  But there’s one hardship that may make the others seem like an easy walk in the park.  That’s the one that’s forming you into a diamond.

That one event in life will put extreme pressure on you…crushing down from all angles…making you feel like there’s no way out and you can’t win.  This is the forming process.  You’re becoming a diamond. But it’s not over yet…you still have to go through the other stages.

The event that formed you is done and think you’re good but the world around you starts shaking…you don’t know what’s going on and you’re afraid that this is another big life change event.  It is…you’re now caught in an volcanic eruption.  It’s dark…hot… and you don’t have control of how fast you’re moving or where you’re going.  It’s uncomfortable but not as bad as the major event that formed you.

Then that last violent shake happens and you’re spat out into the world with no explanation of what just happened.  Time passes and people come and go…passing you up as you lay there because they recognize your worth.  You look battered…dull…scrapped like a piece of weathered glass.  You’re wondering what did you do to deserve this and why did this happen to you.  What and why doesn’t matter right now…what matters is that you keep doing what you’re doing.  Even if that’s waiting…might suck but the process is not done.

Someone will recognize you value…lift you up…and prepare you for the next stage.  You’ll be put in a situation that’s uncomfortable…you’re handed to on person and there’s a lot of noise…handed to the next and there’s a lot of shaking…handed off again to a lot of vibration…again you start to feel useless and unwanted.  But throughout the process, you feel stronger…because this last stage was nothing like the first two stages.

You then experience something unfamiliar.  People start to look at you differently.  They have a sparkle in their eye as the look at you…they seem to value you time…your words…you effort.  You wonder what’s going on and it’s not until you take the time to realize that you were.

First you were carbon in a harsh environment spat out of the earth as a diamond in the rough.  The last stage is the people you’ll meet and the events in you life that will sand you…polish you…shape you.  That sparkle you see in their eye is your reflection.  You’re a diamond.

And lastly, remember hardships won’t stop…but you can handle it now…keep shining…and keep the bling forever bright.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at zealousdisposition@gmail.com. Thank you for listening to The Zealous Disposition…and remember, as iron sharpens iron so one man another…sharpen yourself and sharpen those around you.

***A lot of research was conducted to gather material for this episode and some of the references were lost in the shuffle. Feel free to update me with the reference so due credit can be given***