24-1-2020
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) examines the 0.62-carat green “matryoshka” diamond recovered by Alrosa in Siberia.
“This is a truly unusual diamond, not only for the fact that there is a small diamond crystal inside and entirely detached from the host crystal, but also for the mystery of how this diamond-in-a-diamond formed,” said GIA executive vice president Tom Moses.
Based on the observations of its researchers in New York, a 0.11-carat diamond material dissolved away through two small etched channels that extended from the surface of the diamond to the internal cavity. The diamond material that remained formed into a small diamond crystal of 0.03 carats that is entirely detached from the host crystal. The internal diamond has nearly identical trace element chemistry as the diamond crust.