During the Middle Ages more attention was paid to the worth of diamonds, rather than the mystical powers surrounding them. Due to the heightened public awareness of the value of diamonds, mine owners perpetuated myths that diamonds were poisonous. This was to prevent the mineworkers swallowing the diamonds in an attempt to smuggle them out of the mines.
The popularity of diamonds surged during the Middle Ages, with the discovery
of many large and famous stones in India, such as the Koh-I-Noor and the Blue Hope. Toda
y India maintains the foremost diamond polishing industry in the world.
As the Indian diamond supply dwindled, smaller finds occurred in Borneo and Brazil, but these were not sufficient to meet the ever-increasing demand for diamonds. The mid-nineteenth century discovery of diamonds near the
Orange River in South Africa sparked the world's biggest diamond rush, and helped
to satiate the w
orld's increasing appetite for diamonds.
