What are the uses of diamonds?

The primary use of diamond is as a hard object -- the hardest, natural mineral known, which makes it ideal for cutting tools and precision instruments. Seventy-five to 80 percent of diamonds are used this way, by industry. Examples include cutting tools, polishing hard metal, phonograph and videodisc needles, saws for cutting marble and in rock drilling equipment, and bearings for laboratory instruments.

Sharp-edged diamonds are used by eye-surgeons as a tool to remove cataracts from eyes with a great precision.

Twenty to 25 percent of diamonds are used for jewelery. Diamonds used as gemstones are expensive, beautiful, precious, and can be contained in human stories, meaning that a diamond may emphasize a human situation.

Geologically, a diamond can be inspected to determine the age of the universe.

In particular, gem-quality diamonds are a highly valuable form of portable money, and in that case can be important.