This may come as a surprise, but diamonds are not that expensive. Diamonds are made from carbon, one of the most common elements on Earth. They're easier to get your hands on than some other precious gems.
But, you say, I've seen the prices! You are not wrong. What you're seeing is not only the price of the stone but the work it took to get that piece of jewelry into your hands. Diamonds are formed in the Earth's crust, so they have to be mined. Mining is a complex and costly process.
Next, they have to be shipped around the world and cleaned, shaped, and set in rings or necklaces. Diamonds are priced not only by size, but by using something called the four C's of diamonds: carat, clarity, cut and colour. Carat refers to the density of the stone, not just the size. Fun fact: carats cannot be measured with the naked eye. And they are not to be confused with carrots, which are orange and easy to see.
Clarity is not always obvious, but can include flaws like cloudiness or cavities. A perfect diamond will have no colour. Some lower-quality stones can have a yellowish tint. The cut or shape of a diamond can make flaws easier or harder to see.
The other thing that makes diamonds expensive is that for a long time, one company controlled most of the diamonds in the world. This meant that they could decide how many diamonds were available at a time. This same company used advertising to convince many people that diamonds are fancy and romantic, so they could charge more for them.
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