Drawings of diamonds from The six voyages of John Baptista Tavernier.

The six voyages of John Baptista Tavernier.

Drawings of diamonds.

Diamonds can become gemstones that take your breath away with their beauty. This illustration of 20 diamond gemstones collected by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier shows off their design. Diamond A in the upper left corner, was called the Tavernier Blue at the time. It’s now called the Hope Diamond. You can see it if you visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. It’s an old diamond with a history that started way before Jean-Baptiste Tavernier acquired it in the 17th century. In most cases, naturally occurring diamonds are one to three billion years old, and the Hope Diamond is no exception. Diamonds form deep below the Earth’s surface in the upper mantle under intense pressure and heat. They were brought to the Earth’s surface billions of years ago from deep-seated volcanic eruptions. The carbon bonds of diamonds are super strong because of the intense pressure and heat that formed them. In fact, diamonds are the hardest natural material known to exist, and they are often used in industrial cutting and polishing tools. They are strong beauties!