Quote:All diamonds are formed the same way. The difference in appearance comes from the way they were mined. If there is a difference in colour (and there often is not) it refers to where they were mined and does nothing to show that they were mined illegally. Some places will produce better quality than others, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with proving who is mining them or who is selling them.

There is no color difference between blood diamonds and other diamonds. The name comes from the fact that some diamonds are mined with slave labor and there is a great deal of blood spilled to get those diamonds to market. They look the same as any other. Now, post mining, there is some difference in quality. Some mining outfits are able to cut diamonds in the best ways so the final product is amazing. Some lower budget outfits do not produce such a great product. The Hessians, while they may be ruthless and nefarious pirates are also mostly former miners so they know how to produce a good product. If you are seeing inferior diamonds on the market, it probably did not come from them. There are some independent mining outfits that supply only uncut diamonds or diamonds cut in a very rough way.