diamanti

Diamanti is the Italian term for diamonds, the crystal form of carbon known for exceptional hardness and brilliance. Diamond is the hardest natural material on the Mohs scale (rating 10) and has a high refractive index and dispersion, which produce strong optical sparkle. Diamonds occur in a range of colors, from colorless to yellow, brown, and rarer hues such as pink, blue, and green.

Natural diamonds form deep within the Earth’s mantle under high pressure and temperature and are brought toward the surface by kimberlite eruptions. Major commercial sources include Botswana, Russia, Canada, Australia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other locations. Once mined, diamonds are sorted by quality and cut to determine their value.

Diamonds are evaluated by the four Cs: carat, color, clarity, and cut. Carat measures weight, color assesses hue and saturation, clarity notes internal and surface inclusions, and cut determines how well the stone reflects light. In addition to gem-quality stones, diamonds are widely used in industry for their hardness in cutting, grinding, and polishing applications.

Laboratory-grown diamonds have become commercially available and are produced by methods such as high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). They share the same chemical composition and many physical properties with natural diamonds, though trace characteristics and price can differ. The term Diamanti thus encompasses both natural and synthetic diamonds and remains central to jewelry, industry, and culture in Italian-speaking contexts.

Etymology: diamante derives from Latin diamans, itself from Greek adámas, meaning unbreakable.