We normally consider diamonds as precious, brilliant stones that look gorgeous on a ring or necklace. It is easy to forget that the stone on your beloved 1.75-carat diamond ring was once a part of the earth and that it took a very long trip to get to where it is today. Diamonds were formed mainly in the Precambrian era, which lasted from 4,600 to 542 million years ago. That makes these stones ancient by any measure. After being mined out of Kimberlite pipes using huge amounts of manpower, these are sorted based on quality. After collecting, crushing, and scrubbing, these are put through various processes. This is followed by washing and weighing, and then finally, packaging. The next step is cutting and polishing the stones marked for use in diamond jewelry. Extremely skilled workers are needed for the latter, and they use special tools to do this work, which includes planning, cleaving or sawing, bruting, faceting, and inspecting. Diamonds, which have passed through all these stages, are then introduced into the market. Wholesale brokers sell them to diamond traders and jewelers. Many diamonds end up being sold directly to consumers online as well.