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What Elements Are Blue Diamonds Made Of?

Diamonds are valued for their durability, high level of clarity and brilliance, making them the "king of gems." Naturally occurring blue diamonds are grayish-blue or violet-blue, making them discernible from created blue diamonds. Buyers should send their gem to a lab for confirmation of authenticity. When a natural color or fancy diamond is made, the stone's carbon atoms interact with another element, experience pressure and are exposed to natural radiation. These factors affect the intensity of a diamond's color.

Carbon
- Pencil graphite is made of carbon with a weaker bonding structure.
  
  All diamonds are minerals in the crystalline form of carbon, and their chemical formula is "C." The structure of a diamond is formed of four strong covalent bonds as opposed to graphite which has only three. A covalent bond is formed when two atoms share electrons creating a tightly knit compound. This bonding structure makes diamonds the hardest naturally occurring substance in existence.
Boron
- Boron is used as a soap additive.
  
  There are two types of diamonds, Type I and Type IIb. Blue diamonds containing a tiny percentage of boron and no nitrogen traces or impurities are called Type IIb due to the absence of nitrogen. The 30.82-carat Blue Heart and the larger 45.52-carat Hope Diamond are blue diamonds whose color was created by boron atoms. Along with oxygen, boron is among the compounds called borate minerals, which appear in two geological environments. Borate-bearing solutions are created from a volcanic flow that collects in a closed basin where evaporation has occurred. The second is where high heat and pressure have caused an alteration in rocks. Boron is used in pottery glazes, as a flux in welding and is a common ingredient in mouthwash.
Hydrogen
- Open-pit diamond mining was discontinued at Argyle Mine in 1985.
  
  Another Type IIb diamond is created by the presence of hydrogen, the chemical element with the atomic number 1. Hydrogen is purported to be one of the first atoms in existence. Stars are mainly composed of hydrogen. Argyle blue diamonds --- from the Argyle Mine in the Kimberly region of western Australia --- are created with a small percentage of hydrogen. The Argyle Mine is the largest supplier of diamonds today. The first diamonds were found there in the 1960s and underground mining practices have continued.
Nitrogen
- Most light bulbs are filled with nitrogen gas.
  
  In extremely rare cases, a blue diamond is formed when nitrogen interacts with the carbon atoms in almost undetectable quantities. This type of diamond is called Type I because of the presence of nitrogen. Nitrogen was one of the gases that comprised the earth's first atmosphere along with carbon dioxide and water vapor. As an industrial gas, nitrogen is used to manufacture glass and ceramics. Liquid nitrogen is used in food freezing and cools materials that are naturally heat sensitive to allow machining.

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