The 2.33-carat Winston Red Diamond is one of the largest of its kind and is currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Robert Weldon, courtesy of Ronald Winston)
Diamonds are not always colorless; they can be blue, yellow, green, and even pink. But what lies behind the diverse palette of these gems?
At their core, diamonds are made of a single element: carbon. “They’re just pure carbon,” formed into precious metals under high pressure, explains Luc Doucet, a senior research fellow in geology at Curtin University in Australia. They typically form deep beneath the Earth’s surface, more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) deep in the planet’s mantle. In these conditions, the pressure and temperature are high enough for carbon atoms to bond into a tightly packed crystal lattice.
Once formed, diamonds must reach the surface very quickly to keep their crystal structure intact. This usually happens through volcanic eruptions that throw rocks out of the ground. If the diamond remains at great depths, it can melt or transform into graphite over millions of years.
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