The Living Landscape: The story of Lake County diamonds

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. Our county's striking gems, the Lake County diamonds, however unique, are not true diamonds but semi-precious stones.

Lake County diamonds have a rating of 7.8 to 8 on the Moh's Scale of Hardness. Real diamonds rate a 10 on the scale.

Our diamonds are really a type of quartz, comprised of silicon dioxide, and some other trace elements.

Geologists state that quartz, a common mineral which occurs in nature, grows at its own particular rate.

This quartz-growth occurs according to the temperatures in the earth.

Our quartz specimens in Lake County, known as Lake County diamonds, formed in very specific, high temperatures, in lava flows which are thought to have reached about 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit.

The distinctive way in which our Lake County jewels formed make them one-of-a-kind, to be found only in Lake County.

Clear Lake's sentinel, the 4,305 foot Mount Konocti actually a dormant volcano was once a teeming, erupting and violent volcano.

The portion of Mount Konocti that we now see is thought to be what is left of 350,000 year-old or older pyroclastic flows.

During this time of very high temperatures our particular quartz specimens formed luxurious, lustrous crystals. (It's all in the location, location, location!)

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The Living Landscape: The story of Lake County diamonds