Black Diamonds are a shock to the system. The real black diamond is a rarity, thought to have extra terrestrial origins. The black diamond or Carbonado, as opposed to the traditional diamond, is mined from only few places in the world. The structure and composition of the Carbonado, fiercely resists being cut and processed into stones suitable for jewelry making. Those Black diamonds that find their way into jewelry items are extremely rare and expensive.

The traditional diamond industry, however, has placed such high value on only a small segment of the diamonds mined, that a splinter market was created.

In similar fashion to gold processing, where the preferences shifted from yellow to white or rose colored, the same happened in diamonds.

There was an innovative idea to give a diamond of lesser economic viability a “makeover”. By a process of irradiation or heat treatment a diamond can be enhanced to appear black. This proved a very clever way to add value and appeal to a duller diamond as per the strict benchmarks set to rate the value of diamond.

Black diamonds were soon adopted by people who have a natural preference for black that is expressed in their style and outlook. Other people then associated black diamonds with those people who they perceived as being dark and different.