The origin of our adoration for the birthstone for April was in India, where diamonds were mined from the nation’s rivers and streams. Diamonds were traded as early as the fourth century BCE, and affluent people and aristocracy craved them. Later, caravans brought exotic goods like Indian jewels to Venice’s mediaeval markets. Diamonds were becoming attractive accessories for Europe’s aristocracy by the 1400s. Archduke Maximillian of Austria presented Mary of Burgundy with the first diamond engagement ring in history in 1477. The mythical 45.52 carat (ct) blue Hope diamond’s origin in India’s Golconda mining region and its sale to King Louis XIV of France (then known as the French Blue diamond) in 1668 are both supported by recent evidence.

Brazil became a significant supplier of diamonds in the early 1700s as India’s supply of the gemstone started to diminish. On the banks of the Jequitinhonha River in Minas Gerais, gold miners combed through gravel when they found diamonds. For more than 150 years, Brazil controlled the diamond industry.

The contemporary diamond industry began with the finding of diamonds in the late 1860s close to Kimberley, South Africa. De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited was founded by businessman Cecil Rhodes in 1888, and by 1900, De Beers was thought to be in charge of 90% of the world’s output of rough diamonds. At 3,106 ct (621 grammes), the biggest diamond ever discovered was unearthed in South Africa’s Premier mine in 1905. Its pear-shaped 530 ct Cullinan I diamond, popularly known as the Great Star of Africa, was cut from it and is now mounted in the Royal Sceptre with Cross, which is kept in the Tower of London along with the other Crown Jewels.