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 Post subject: A $56,000 Diamond Rough from the Sky
PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:49 am 
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Take a look at this.

Please refresh my memory of the definition of diamond or what the Federal Trade Commission says.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:58 am 
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I do find the meteor story a bit hard to believe. I do not believe a diamond would be able to survive entry into the Earth's atmosphere and make it to the ground. Considering a high heat torch or house fire can make a diamond go *poof*, and they are far lower in temp then those reach when penetrating and traveling through the Earth's atmosphere, lol.


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:10 am 
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If it was a conglomeration of micro diamonds then it's possible...I think :?:

oh yea ebay profits up 8% this quarter..some chatter saying maybe amazon or google might try and enter the online auction battle

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:14 am 
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Carbonado is defined as an aggregate of polycrystalline diamond.
Both bort and carbonado are typically used as abrasives.

Has carbonado been identified in meteorites? Yes.

The problem that I see with it is the EGL "certification".
EGL is identifying meteorites now?
Someone should call them...hint hint


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:48 pm 
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Well, I acquired a copy of the EGL Identification report, dated 2004.
The instruments used in identification were hardness and SG.
It is identified as Natural Carbonado

No mention of extraterrestrial origin is noted, but that sort of authentication would certainly be out of EGL's area of expertise.

The report concludes with the comment: "Carbonado is a type of cryptocrystalline diamond"


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:34 pm 
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Thanks Barbra for the clarification. Wow, it is certainly an eye opener. :shock:

I was looking at the FTC Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries. This particular item may be outside the scope of the guides.

For those who are interested in the guides, it is here.

Mitch

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 5:02 pm 
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8) cannot believe it has an EGL report.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:02 am 
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As a side note and further proof that meteorites can contain "diamond" material is the fact that there is a planet that supposedly has an entire core made of "diamond"! I read it in one of my astrophotography forums I frequent. Blew my mind! I can't find the link to the news article though. :(

Good point J, if it was a cluster/conglomerate and hit the atmosphere at the exact proper angle for entry I guess it could be possible, however, I still think it would be highly unlikely. I think a more plausible hypothesis would be that when the meteorite struck the Earth that it "uncovered" or unearthed the diamond material in the process and that it was found with the debris and was assumed to have been part of the actual meteorite. I think we would have read about it in big news had one that size and not just traces had survived an entry and impact.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:03 am 
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I believe that carbonado may be formed by the heat and pressures created upon impact, most likely with some of the more massive impacts.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:07 am 
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in essence formed terrestrially with only some extra terrestrial material

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:19 am 
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There are several research studies online which seem to indicate that infrared absorption investigations confirm the extraterrestrial origin of carbonado-diamonds.
You can google it; several .pdfs are available for free download.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:04 am 
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Thanks Barbara,

Now I'll be up till 2 am :smt119

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:56 am 
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Did none of you watch the Modern Marvels on History channel about diamonds? That last little snippet I think talked about micro diamonds from space...the guy had a whole vial full of them..they were itty bitty though..real itty bitty

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:28 am 
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did y'all see the "natural raw rough diamond slices carved in the shape of a fish" on the seller's e-bay page?

didn't we have a discussion on the theories of meteorites, diamonds, etc... a couple of weeks ago?


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:13 pm 
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Years ago i saw a 36" diamond saw get pinched by a large ( 20mm?) black diamond crystal at Bob Haags's place while slabbing a very large pallasite from Argentina.

It took the boys several hours to free the saw- the blade tried to go around the diamond and the saw became locked.

After they got the blade free, they came in from the other side with a small offset and the diamond was revealed.

The meteorite was full of gemmy olivine- i would have called it peridot.


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