The Largest And Purest Diamond Ever Found

Rafael Solano, his back bent, his shoulders crushed by an invisible weight, sat on a boulder in the dry river bed. He lifted his head up slowly. It weighed a ton. He spoke in a low voice, his words almost incomprehensible. He mumbled again to his two friends.

“I quit.”

They stopped gathering pebbles and looked at him.
“I can’t go on. I don’t believe in it anymore.”

The sweat glistened on his brow. The brilliant sun had parched his face to a network of fine blood vessels. Dark shadows outlined his eyes.

He held up a pebble in his hand. “The next one will be a million”

He threw the pebble down. It bounced off another stone and lay shining in the sunlight.

The year was 1942; the country, Venezuela.

Long hard months had passed for the three men prospecting for diamonds in the watercourse of their native country. They had worked relentlessly, driven by greed, by passion, by an outrageous hope for the future. They had stooped and gathered pebbles from sunup to sundown. They had fought off discouragement with talk about how they would spend their new found wealth. But all they ever found were pebbles. Now, as they all faced each other, their clothes were torn and filthy, merely rags, clinging to their gaunt bodies. They stank of long months of unwashed sweat, which had soaked into skin, hair, and what was left of their clothes.

“Pick up another pebble,” urged one of Rafael’s friends. “Make it a million.”

Solano sank down on his knees and sank his hands in the sand. He wriggled it around in the moist sand until he touched a large, hard object. He pulled out a sand-encrusted pebble about the size of a hen’s egg. He bounced the heavy pebble in his hand, a little surprised by the weight of it. His friends watched in awe as he brushed the pebble clean.

The millionth pebble, the largest and purest diamond ever found, was sold in New York to Harry Winston, a jewel dealer. He paid Rafael Solano $2,000,000 for the diamond.

The millionth pebble was affectionately named, "The Liberator."

Success Principle

When all else fails, persist.

Rafael Solano and his friends had a wild dream. There was nothing sensible about this dream. It was, in fact, so far-flung, so outrageous, that a sensible person would have dismissed it at the first thought. They wanted to find diamonds. After much inquiry, they found a spot that had a reputation for being a possible site.

The men worked long and hard in apparently futile labor. They kept each others spirits up, and when, at the 999,999th pebble Rafael Solano was about to give up, his friends pushed him to continue.

Then as if on a cue, the universe gave back the men a million fold return on their sweat equity. After months of not having the slightest clue that they were in the right place, suddenly, quite unexpectedly, a diamond showed up, and it was a diamond of such epic proportions that they did not have to try any more.

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Saleem Rana got his Masters degree in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2004 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.

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At Gold Dusters Jewelry the owner Emily has been working in the jewelry business for 50 years now. We create your special jewelry for you. We also have a lot of selections of diamond rings, loose stones, watches and much more. Stop by today Gold Dusters Jewelry in Forest Lake Minnesota.

Determining Best Value Diamonds

Diamonds are very expensive, which is why anyone who buys a diamond wants to make sure they are getting best value diamonds for the money they spend. When you buy a diamond from a jeweler, whether it is a retail location or a wholesaler, it should be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

The stones in GIA diamond rings have been analyzed and assessed by GIA, which is the world's largest non-profit gemological research institute. This institute grades only loose diamonds and when you are satisfied that you have a best value diamond, then you can choose the setting for the ring.

There are many ways in which diamonds are analyzed to determine whether they are conflict or non-conflict diamonds. Conflict diamonds come from parts of the world where the sale of the diamonds is used to finance wars and acts of terrorism.

Such diamonds are not permitted to be imported into the US, Canada, and European countries. To make sure that such stones are best value diamonds in this regard, there is a process called the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is not an appraisal of the value of the diamond, as you find with GIA diamond rings and IGI appraisals. Instead it is a certificate attesting to the fact that the diamond you purchase has not been mined or bought from one of the countries on the list of those associated with blood diamonds.

This process lays down a minimum requirement for the shipping of diamonds all over the world and must accompany diamonds shipped into the country, especially from African countries. In this way, you know that you have best value diamonds in that no one has been harmed in the mining process and that the money from the sale will not be used for killing.

Appraisal of the diamonds is the best way to find if you have best value diamonds. GIA diamond rings and IGI appraisals look at four main features of the diamonds in order to assess its value. This is called the four C's of diamond rating and each stone is assigned a letter grade according to the system.

The GIA actually instituted this system of rating that is now used internationally. The report you receive is very thorough and covers just about everything you want to know about the diamond you have purchased or are considering purchasing.

The four C's of best value diamonds refer to the cut, clarity, carat and color of the diamond. Just because a diamond is white and shiny does not mean that it is of good quality because there may be imperfections in the stone that only a certified gemologist can discover.

Many people look at the carat of the diamond, which is its weight, but the other features are just as important. There are five main cuts of diamonds, for example, and if the cutter is a master at the trade, then cuts will be done to perfection. A poorly cut 2-carat diamond may not be as good a value for the money as a smaller size with a perfect cut.

The closer a diamond is to having no color whatsoever, the greater its value. Diamonds that are pale yellow in color are not the best value diamonds to buy because these have a lower rating on the scale. The most highly rated diamonds are those with the letter grades of D, E and F. However, there are also fancy diamonds which are very valuable showing colors of pink, green, blue and bright yellow. These are very rare and are therefore very expensive.

Allison Ryan is a freelance marketing writer from San Diego, CA. She specializes in best value diamonds from IGI appraisals and GIA diamond rings. For design-your-own diamond jewelery, check out http://www.diamondwave.com/.

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