• Question: why are dimonds and other types of gems so rare and expensive to buy

    Asked by to Andrei, Ekbal, Gemma, Helen, Ruth on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ekbal Hussain

      Ekbal Hussain answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      Hi!
      Diamonds and other gems like them are very expensive because they are very rare (and beautiful)! In fact diamonds are made out of something that we see every day, carbon. It’s what your pencil is made from.

      So why are diamonds all shiny and hard and beautiful and pencil just dull and grey? Well the difference is how they are made.

      Diamonds are made in very special situations. You need to make a bit of pencil very very hot (about 900 degrees celcius) and squeeze it very hard for it to turn into a diamond. And when I say squeeze it hard, I mean VERY hard. So hard in fact, you need to bury it about 150 kilometres under the ground!

      Just a reminder, the deepest hole we have ever managed to dig was only 10 kilometres …

      These diamonds are brought up to the surface in strange volcanic eruptions.

      So, as you can see, a lot of very special things need to happen before you can make a diamond and then bring it to the surface for us to find. This is why they are so rare and expensive.

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