Shirley Bassey, famous for singing three of James Bond’s main theme songs, sang “Diamonds Are Forever” and she may very well be right when it comes to the Enigma diamond, but what is special about this gem? The Enigma diamond is a black Diamond of type carbonado and is the largest cut diamond in the world according to Guinness World Records, weighing in at an impressive 555.55 carats or 111 grams with 55 faces.
While most diamonds, such as the world’s largest rough diamond, the Cullinan, are found deep within the earth’s surface in the igneous rock of kimberlite, the Enigma diamond has many conflicting theories as to its origin, with some suggesting that it was transported to the earth’s surface by a meteorite, this is because carbonado diamonds contain the mineral osbornite, which is found only in meteors, suggesting that the diamond originated in space.
What else do we sandblast on the Enigma diamond and its ilk
These black diamonds are thought to have aaged between 2.6 and 3.8 billion years and have only been found in Brazil and the Central African Republic. This is thought to be because at this point in Earth’s history, the western coast of Africa and present-day Brazil may have merged into a supercontinent similar to Pangea or Gondwanaland.
These stones are a “polycrystalline diamond material or aggregate” according to the International Gem Society and contain amorphous carbon, diamond and graphite, without forgetting that they are found only in deposits of alluvial sedimentary rocks. This makes them considerably more durable than ordinary crystalline diamonds, and because of this the diamond is said to have taken three years to cut and polish its 55 facets.
Researchers suggest that carbonado is formed within supernova explosions and their unusual properties are formed before they reach Earth, while others suggest that the impact of material landing on Earth’s surface caused these extraordinary stones to form .
The Enigma diamond was bought at a Sotheby’s auction for $4.3 million (£3.16 million) in February 2022, and although Sotheby’s has not disclosed the buyer, the entrepreneur Richard Heart announced on social media that he bought the diamond using cryptocurrency and renamed it diamond Hex.com so as to honor its cryptocurrency business.
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