HOST: Taking a ride through the dark passages of the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mines, I'm getting a glimpse at the industry that's been a huge part of the Mountain State's economy since the late 1800s. Now, I don't think that coal, which takes millions of years to form, qualifies as an antique collectible, but Roadshow appraiser Kevin Zavian has some other carbon-based materials he wants to explore: diamonds.
HOST: Kevin, we're here in a coal mine, not a diamond mine, but we're talking about diamonds. Why is that?
APPRAISER: We're gonna dispel some diamond myths. The first myth I wanna talk about was that you could put enough pressure on coal to make a diamond. Superman III, Christopher Reeve takes it and he crushes it, and out comes a diamond. That really can't happen. They are both carbon, but it's a carbon of a different structure.
HOST: So what's the next myth, Kevin?
APPRAISER: Well, the next myth would be that diamonds are very rare. Over 100 million carats of diamonds are mined a year. 70% of the diamonds mined are used for industry. They use them for things like drill bits and abrasives. The other 30% we use for jewelry. In this case here, we have a hand-made platinum ring with a 7.5 carat, emerald-cut diamond with two tapered baguette stones on it. And it's a nice color, very clean, no carbon spots in it, and a stone like this today at auction could be $150,000 to $200,000.
HOST: So diamonds, per se, are not particularly rare, but good diamonds are?
APPRAISER: Right.
HOST: So, I've always thought that diamonds always have been the representation of love and commitment. That's why we give a diamond engagement ring. But that hasn't always been the case?
APPRAISER: Right, today we even have diamond-encrusted wedding bands. As recently as the 1800s, diamonds were not a sign of love and commitment. They were a sign of status and nobility. It really didn't get rolling until the 1930s, when De Beers created a marketing plan to show diamonds as a sign of love and commitment. They came out with the ad in 1947, "A Diamond is Forever." This is a variation of a wedding band. This one has diamonds in it. A ring like this would have been made in the 1940s or early '50s. It's hand-made of platinum. It has 18 round brilliant-cut diamonds circling it. They weigh almost three carats total weight. A value for a ring like this at auction would be $3,000 to $4,000.
HOST: Now we know the truth about diamonds. Thanks.
APPRAISER: Well, thanks for having me.
