The history of natural diamond (opens in a new window)s runs through ancient empires, royal courts and sacred rituals across nearly every civilization that ever encountered them. From the earliest Sanskrit references in 4th-century BC India to the Crown Jewels of modern Europe, natural diamonds have accumulated meaning in a way few objects on Earth can claim, as symbols of power, divine connection and, eventually, love. Here’s how that story unfolded.
Why people have long treasured natural diamonds
Scientists estimate the oldest natural diamonds are between 3.5 billion and 90 million years old, formed long before any human civilization existed to prize them.
According to Courtney Ann Stewart, art historian, gemologist and curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the first known references to a diamond appeared in 1st century CE Rome. At the time, diamonds were kept in their raw octahedral form (picture the shape of the diamond in a deck of cards) to preserve their carat weight and natural purity1.
India was the world’s primary diamond source for over a thousand years, supplying gems that traveled along early trade routes to Persia, Rome and eventually Europe. That journey from Indian riverbeds to royal treasuries is where the cultural weight of natural diamonds began to build2.
Formation and cosmic origins of natural diamonds
Even today, the science behind natural diamond formation carries a sense of the cosmic. They form from carbon deep in the Earth’s mantle, roughly 140 to 200 kilometers below the surface, under temperatures exceeding 2,200°F and pressure that has no surface equivalent. That process takes between one and 3.3 billion years. Rare volcanic events then carry them upward through kimberlite pipes (the geological formations responsible for almost every natural diamond ever recovered)3.
It’s no coincidence that early civilizations connected natural diamonds to stars and sunlight. In Egyptian culture, gems were associated with divine energy and solar worship. The science, it turns out, wasn’t so far from the mythology: the natural diamond formation process unfolds over geological timescales that dwarf the entirety of human history.
The cultural significance of diamonds
Long before they were graded or valued by carat, natural diamonds carried meaning. Their physical properties alone were enough to generate reverence. In those early days, diamonds were called ‘adamas,’ a Greek word meaning ‘unconquerable’ or ‘indestructible’. Attempts to test that durability were inventive. “Plenty of old texts insisted diamonds could be softened in goat blood,” explains Stewart. Others depicted diamonds in pots of fire, trying to prove their indestructible nature.
Diamond mythology and ancient beliefs
In Roman culture, natural diamonds were worn as amulets believed to offer protection and divine power, particularly in battle. In Greek culture, they were thought to be the tears of gods or fragments of fallen stars, even Plato spoke of their celestial origins. According to Greek mythology, stars were the children of Eos, goddess of dawn, and Astraios, father of the stars, giving natural diamonds an otherworldly lineage that cultures across the ancient world seemed to independently arrive at. In India, diamonds were associated with the planet Venus in Vedic astrology, symbolizing harmony and prosperity, a spiritual connection that shaped how they were traded and worn for centuries4.
When were diamonds first cut?
For most of their early history, natural diamonds were worn exactly as they came: raw and uncut in their natural octahedral form. Diamond cutting was considered spiritually taboo in some cultures (it was believed that altering a diamond diminished its sacred power). That began to change in India around the 14th century, where craftsmen developed the first techniques for polishing diamond surfaces, producing what became known as the point cut.
From there, the evolution was gradual but transformative. The table cut followed (a flattened top surface that better reflected light). Then the rose cut, with its domed top and flat base, designed to catch candlelight. By the 17th century, the brilliant cut had emerged, the style that would define diamond jewelry for the next four centuries. Each advance revealed something new: that the value of a natural diamond wasn’t just in its rarity, but in what a skilled hand could draw out of it. Understanding what diamond cutting is helps explain why the 4Cs of diamonds — cut, color, clarity and carat — became the universal language of diamond quality.
Why royalty and diamonds are forever entwined
According to legend, natural diamonds were once nearly impossible to find. Stewart points to ancient Turkish texts describing a dramatic mining tale: deep valleys filled with venomous snakes were said to guard the precious gems. Brave men would toss chunks of meat into the valley, hoping diamonds would stick to them, before vultures swooped down to carry the meat (and the diamonds) to higher ground.
As trade routes connected East and West, the status of natural diamonds grew with them. One of the most famous diamonds in history, the Koh-i-Noor, first emerged in records linked to India’s legendary Kollur mines. Its name translates to ‘Mountain of Light’ and its path through Persian, Afghan, Indian, Sikh and British royal hands5 reads less like provenance and more like a history of the world.
The Koh-i-Noor: history’s most contested royal treasure
The facts around the Koh-i-Noor are complex and hotly debated. Some trace the diamond back to 3200 BCE, though other records connect it to Sultan Babur of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. Either way, it passed through dynasties and empires for centuries before Iranian ruler Nader Shah seized it during the 1739 sacking of Delhi. It later landed with Afghan and Sikh rulers before the British took possession following the annexation of Punjab in 18496.
Today, the 105.6-carat natural diamond — it originally weighed 191 carats — sits among the British Crown Jewels, recut and reshaped, but no less significant for everything it has witnessed.
The Sancy: a symmetrical powerhouse
France, too, boasts an impressive regal diamond legacy. The Sancy diamond, a pale yellow, shield-cut jewel, was one of the first known diamonds to be cut symmetrically – a dramatic turning point in the evolution and style of diamond culture.
Originally mined in India, the gemstone got its name from Nicholas Harlay de Sancy, a French financier and ambassador. Legend has it King Henry III borrowed the diamond to cover a bald spot on his crown – a look we’d truly love to see, non?
Still, King Henry III couldn’t keep it forever, and eventually, the Sancy made its way into the French royal collection, to be worn by Louis XV at his 1722 coronation. While its journey wasn’t quite as dramatic as the Koh-i-Noor’s, it remains one of Europe’s most cherished royal diamonds. You can admire it in person at the Louvre in Paris7.
The Cullinan: the giant that shaped a crown
Perhaps the most famous royal diamond of all time, the Cullinan, came from South Africa. Discovered in 1905 at the Premier Mine in the Transvaal region, this breathtaking blue-white gemstone weighed in at a staggering 3,106 carats8, making it the largest rough diamond ever found9. In fact, its clarity and size were so extraordinary at the time that it ended up being gifted by South Africa to England as a gesture of political goodwill and unity. We wish we had friends that generous!
The enormous responsibility of cutting the Cullinan went to renowned Dutch jeweler Joseph Asscher. With extreme precision, he managed to transform the rough diamond into nine spectacular large gemstones and nearly a hundred smaller ones. Some of the most celebrated cuts now live in the British Crown Jewels, including the Sovereign’s Sceptre, the elegant ceremonial staff held by kings and queens during formal royal occasions.
Modern cultural relevance: how natural diamonds still define star power
The cultural authority natural diamonds built over centuries didn’t fade, it shifted. For the past hundred years, the people most associated with success and influence have worn natural diamonds to say so. Notorious B.I.G.’s Jesus Piece in the ’90s, Marilyn Monroe’s jewels in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, Rihanna’s nine-carat pear-cut diamond toe ring at a pre-Met Gala party in 2023…
At the 2026 Met Gala, Lewis Hamilton wore a vintage Briony Raymond diamond hat brooch and white diamond stud earrings. At the 2025 Oscars, Scarlett Johansson wore a pear-shaped diamond necklace from De Beers London’s Alchemist of Light High Jewelry collection. Timothée Chalamet and Colman Domingo have both worn natural diamonds at major events in 2025 and 2026, with the Natural Diamond Council projecting young men as one of the fastest-growing segments of natural diamond buyers in 202610.
Gen Z is now the fastest-growing buyer segment overall, with a preference for distinctive cuts and pieces that carry a story. Selena Gomez’s marquise-cut natural diamond and Taylor Swift’s antique old mine cut shaped what couples chose in 2025. For bridal jewelry (opens in a new window), the natural diamond remains the standard, not by tradition alone, but by active choice.
A history still being written
Natural diamonds were objects of reverence before anyone knew how to cut them, status symbols before there were red carpets to wear them on, and symbols of commitment before the tradition had a name. That continuity isn’t coincidence. It’s what happens when something genuinely irreplaceable accumulates the weight of human history.
FAQs
What determines a diamond’s value over time?
Natural diamond value (opens in a new window) is shaped by three forces that reinforce each other: rarity, craftsmanship and cultural meaning. No two natural diamonds are alike, and the combination of carat weight, color, clarity and cut that defines each gem is unrepeatable. That geological scarcity underpins everything, but it’s the centuries of accumulated significance, from royal collections to engagement traditions, that give natural diamonds a desirability that doesn’t diminish with time.
Why are diamonds associated with love and commitment?
The connection between natural diamonds and love predates modern marketing by centuries. Ancient cultures attributed protective and spiritual qualities to natural diamonds. In Rome they were worn as talismans while in India they were associated with harmony and prosperity. The leap to romantic symbolism gained momentum in 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave Mary of Burgundy a diamond ring to mark their betrothal. From there, the tradition deepened across cultures until diamond gift ideas (opens in a new window) became inseparable from the language of commitment. A natural diamond endures because what it represents does too.
What makes natural diamonds unique compared to other gemstones?
Hardness, rarity and cultural longevity. On the Mohs scale, natural diamonds score a 10, making them harder than rubies and sapphires (9) and emeralds (7.5 to 8). That hardness makes them uniquely suited to everyday wear without risk of scratching or dulling. In terms of cultural reach, natural diamonds and how they compare (opens in a new window) to other precious stones reveals a gap in symbolic weight that goes well beyond chemistry. No other gemstone has accumulated meaning across so many civilizations over as long a period of time.
How does diamond clarity affect its appearance?
Diamond clarity (opens in a new window) describes the presence of naturally occurring internal characteristics (inclusions) and external ones (blemishes). In practical terms, fewer inclusions allow light to move more freely through the gem, producing greater brilliance. That said, many inclusions are invisible to the naked eye and only detectable under magnification. Rather than imperfections, they are evidence of authentic geological formation. Each one is a record of the conditions under which that diamond was created.
Sources
- Courtney Ann Stewart, De Beers History of Diamonds talk in May 2025 ↩︎
- www.gia.edu/diamond-history-lore ↩︎
- www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/about-diamonds/formation-of-diamonds/ ↩︎
- www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org/about-diamonds/diamonds-through-the-ages/ ↩︎
- www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-koh-i-noor-diamondand-why-british-wont-give-it-back-/ ↩︎
- www.britannica.com/topic/Koh-i-noor/ ↩︎
- Baunat.com, The Sancy Diamond: one of the loveliest diamonds in the world ↩︎
- Royal Collection Trust, The Cullinan Diamond ↩︎
- Royal Collection Trust, The Cullinan Diamond ↩︎
- www.naturaldiamonds.com/diamond-reports-natural-diamond-trends-2025/ ↩︎
