The earliest producing diamond mines were in the Golconda region of India. Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a Frenchman, is credited with the discovery of the first gemstone in the region in 1627. Mining was well-established by the mid-seventeenth century and a single mine employed 60,000 persons to dig and carry the alluvial gravels that contained the diamonds.

India's primacy in diamond production lasted until the 1720's. After 1725, the Portuguese discovered diamond alluvial deposits in Brazil which remained the most important producer until the mid-1800's. The Brazilian stones were of good quality and the country produced some 16 million carats between 1750 and 1850.

In 1867, a 21-carat stone discovered on the banks of the Orange River, South Africa, started a great diamond rush. Between 1870 and 1891, no less than six kimberlite pipes were discovered in Kimberley. The biggest pipe in South Africa was discovered at Cullinan, near Pretoria, in 1902. The world's largest gem diamond, the 3,106 carat Cullinan, was found there in 1905.

In the 1950's, Yakutia, a region of the Soviet Union, began to develop newly discovered diamond resources. This Siberian diamond field would make their nation one of the greatest diamond producers of all time.

In the 1960's, diamond fields were discovered in Botswana. The three diamond mines - Orapa, Letlhakane and Jwaneng - make Botswana the world's second-largest producer of diamonds and the largest producer of gem diamonds by both value and number.

In 1991, a diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe was drilled at Lac de Gras, N.W.T., Canada to begin the largest land staking rush in Canadian mining history. Canada's first diamond mine, the EKATI mine, opened officially on 14 October 1998.

Global gem diamond demand currently exceeds mine production, thus ensuring continued development and exploration for these highly prized stones.

The Magic and the Mystery
The legends, tales, rumours and dreams that have surrounded this wonder of nature called diamond, has kept it singularly alone at the pinnacle of gemstones. Men have fought and died for diamonds, and have used them as collateral to finance their wars.

The name "diamond" came from the Greek adarnas, meaning invincible. Diamonds became an ornament suitable for military leaders. For more than 2,000 years, diamond has been sought after as personal treasure and worn as an ornament of rank or wealth. Some of the legends surrounding diamond have included the following beliefs in varying cultures around the world:

• The ancient Greeks believed that diamonds were splinters of stars fallen to the earth. It was said by some that they were the tears of the Gods.
• Another legend has it that there was an inaccessible valley in Central Asia carpeted with diamonds, 'patrolled by birds of prey in the air and guarded by snakes of murderous gaze on the ground'.
• In China, diamonds were carried in the belief that they could thwart evil spirits and they became a symbol of strength, courage and invincibility.
• The Roman, Pliny, wrote that swallowing a diamond would neutralize poison and guard against insanity.

Whatever the myth or legend that has been associated with this brilliant gem called diamond, no-one can deny man's fascination with its beauty, its fire, its magic, and its mystery.