Diamonds are NOT Forever: Burning Diamonds With a Torch and Liquid Oxygen

October 11, 2009 by Geeks are Sexy | View Comments

Think diamonds are forever? Well, sorry to disappoint you folks, but they’re not.

I can’t stand diamonds. No, really, they just tick me off, because nearly everything about them is a lie. Diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable nor uniquely romantic. Those are ideas invented by the diamond industry. And no, despite what the ads tell you, diamonds are not forever. They are flammable and will burn brightly with a little help from a torch. This makes perfect sense when you consider that they are made of pure carbon, which reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (“reacts with oxygen” just being another way of saying “burns”).