A.  Brides today are trending toward choosing a gemstone which speaks uniquely to them.  Choices include rubies, emeralds, sapphires, aquamarines, citrines, tanzanites, garnets, amethysts, and whatever beautiful gem sparkles in the bride’s eye.

A.  The only ring exchanged in the ceremony, Kate’s ring, was handcrafted of Welsh gold.  The gold was given to William in November 2010 by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.

A.  Kate’s ring, which used to be Princess Diana’s engagement ring, is an 18 carat oval, blue sapphire encircled by 14 white diamonds set in 18 kt. white gold.

A. Diamonds are created about 150 kilometers below the Earth’s crust, in its mantle.

A. In a manner of speaking this is true.  According to the Museum of Natural History, virtually all carbon, whether it’s in a tree of a diamond, at one time came from the stars.

A.  It is not ones imagination that a diamond pressed to her lips feels cold.  Diamonds are excellent thermal conductors; they extract the heat from whatever they touch.

A.  No, diamonds are poor conductors of electricity.  As a general rule, they are insulators.

A.  Yes.  Some diamonds have the ability to absorb radiation and re-emit it as visible light. These diamonds are fluorescent.  Some stones can even glow after the ultraviolet source is turned off; these are phosphorescent.

A.  Dispersion is the separation of white light into its rainbow of colors.  This is one of the wonderful assets of a colorless diamond. The less color in the diamond, the more dispersion, thus the more “fire”!

A.  If a diamond crystal contains nitrogen, the diamond will appear yellow.   If the crystal instead has boron in it, the diamond will appear blue.  Chemicals or flaws in a diamond can affect its refraction, therefore its color.