Treasure Tales and Treasure Stories About Alabama from the Archives of Lost Treasure Magazine
Diamonds are forever
From State Treasure Tales
By Anthony J. Pallante
From page 60 of the October 1997 issue of Lost Treasure magazine.
Copyright ©1997, 1998 Lost Treasure, Inc.
Diamonds have been found at several Alabama locations, including a 4.27 carat diamond found in Shelby County around 1900, 30 miles south of Birmingham, and a diamond of 2.25 carats found in 1905, on the Isbell property of Prescott Siding in St. Clair County 20 miles northeast of Birmingham. A diamond found in Lee County not far from Columbus, Ga., in 1901, weighed in at 4.25 carats. All Alabama stones are of good quality and have a nice greenish cast. Geologists have speculated that for every diamond found in a scattered field, 100s may go unnoticed because of difficulty recognizing a diamond in the raw.
An uncut diamond usually resembles a frosted, greasy looking, rounded, double-pyramid joined at the base. It has none of the lustre or transparency of a cut jewel. However, rough diamonds -- like cut stones -- are valued according to color, flawlessness, and weight. The highest quality stones are completely colorless and clear as a drop of water, giving rise to the professional phrase, "a diamond of the first water." Small diamonds are much more common than large ones; therefore, a single 10 carat stone has much greater value than ten single carat stones.
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