Cut-and-polished tour of the Cape Town Diamond Museum

I was given a tour of the non-profit Cape Town Diamond Museum and gained valuable insight, from the history of diamonds to the cut-and-polish processes involved.

Since 1477, many a lady has had her heart and eye set on the lustre of a diamond - a result of its high optical dispersion (ability to disperse light of different colours). The first diamond engagement ring was worn by Mary of Burgundy. Suo jure Duchess of Burgundy, Mary had her choice of suitors - it was Maximilian I who most likely won her approval with the shimmering gemstone.

Eureka!

Okay, maybe not - people only actually started wearing diamonds as a symbol of wealth 200 years later in 1600, more than 200 years before 15-year-old Stephanus Jacobs discovered the first diamond in South Africa, the Eureka!

If you're like me and have little knowledge of diamonds, it's best to note what to look for when making a purchase. Cue the four Cs: Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat Weight - your tour guide at the museum will help you with these grading criteria.

If the minefield of information doesn't grab you, maybe the walk through the replica mineshaft might. I got a feel for what it was like working in the first diamond mines with the sounds of dripping water, rolling carts and picks meeting rock, teasing my auditory senses from above.

Did you know ...

When you're done with that, have a gander at some really old relics: lunch boxes from the 1940s, a copy of the Diamond News, interlocking sieves from the 1900s and more.

On show at the Cape Town Diamond Museum are replicas of: the Millennium Star, the Centenary Diamond, the Taylor Burton, the Hope Diamond, as well as pieces from Shimansky collections: My Girl, Millennium, and the Evolym.

Here's an interesting bit of "did you know" to whip out at the dinner table: the real-life "Heart of the Ocean", as opposed to the blue diamond featured in James Cameron's Titanic, was actually a sapphire.

Open from 9am to 9pm, seven days a week, general admission to the Cape Town Diamond Museum costs R50 per person, while entry is free to pensioners and children under 14 years. The tour lasts about 25 to 40 minutes. The museum is at the Clock Tower building at the Waterfront in Cape Town. For more info, call +27 (0)21 421 2488, email gro.muesumdnomaidnwotepac@ofni, or go to www.capetowndiamondmuseum.org.