[Colorabe]

I thought that diamond were the hardest substance on earth... but my friend told me that they can break. Is this true?

[Eileen G]

They can break, or it wouldn't be possible to shape them, but it takes a huge amount of force. They don't melt in anything you are likely to be able to do to them at home.

[sylvester1971]

Diamonds have planes of cleavage, which means they have angles in their crystalline structure while allows them to break. Any sharp blow can chip or crack a diamond. Most chips occur around the girdle, or outside edge, and are actually fairly common, especially in diamond rings