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PRIMARY: DIAMOND - "The King of all precious gems and symbol of trust"

Diamond, the primary April birthstone, may be the most well known and hardest precious gemstone with a hardness level of 10.0.

As the hardest natural mineral, diamonds are both valuable and durable, but the controversy over these precious stones sold to finance rebel armies and terrorists - known as conflict diamonds or blood diamonds - contributes to the fact that we don’t carry many diamonds in our stores. The diamonds we do carry are from vendors like Hot Diamonds, who get the stones from conflict-free sources.

The creation of diamonds requires enormous heat and pressure; the only known natural sources are diatremes (a kind of volcanic eruption) or meteorite impacts. The latter usually only create tiny, novelty-item-level stones.

Alternate: White Topaz

White topaz, the alternate April birthstone, is a semi-precious gemstone that measures a hardness level of 8.0 on Moh's hardness level scale. Be sure not to confuse this alternate birthstone with the traditional birthstone of November, the yellow topaz. The white topaz is colored from the impurities in a pure transparent topaz gemstone.