Let's start with some background on diamonds. Many people think that most diamonds mines are located in South Africa, however there are mines in Russia, India, Australia, Canada, and many other countries as well. I have visited one of the famous diamond mines of the world, located in Kimberley, South Africa. It is called the "Big Hole", probably not a great tagline for any town...
Tiffany Bezet rings in 18 carat gold with yellow diamonds.
As you can see from the image -here- the water is clear blue and the hole looks quite deep. The terrifying thing is to look at the diagram of the depth of the mine and what is not explained there is that it was once mined to 1097m deep! I'd hate to think how that was done, as they stopped excavating the mine in 1914! When I saw it we stood on a little balcony that extends over the opening of the hole, and even though I am not really that afraid of heights, there is something terrifying about a hole that deep. The universal grading system for diamonds is the 4 C's: carat, colour, clarity, and cut. Here are the definitions, according to the Gemological Institute of America:
