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DIAMONDS ON THE WEB

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DIAMONDS GO VIRAL

No person or industry is immune these days to the viral video phenomenon. While the number of views necessary to achieve this exulted, or on occasion dreaded, status is up for discussion, every now and then a You Tube clips featuring the world’s most popular gemstone captures the public imagination.

What is that makes a diamond video go viral? There’s no magic formula. The diamond’s legend, as the hardest natural material known to man and one of the most valuable, certainly is factor. So is the diamond’s association with love, and in particularly the marriage proposal ceremony.

The following are prime examples.

THE ANT WHO TRIED STEAL A DIAMOND

While the exact location of the scene of the crime is uncertain, it purportedly took place in a diamond wholesaler’s office in New York City. But the perpetrator is no mystery, since she was filmed attempting to roll a polished stone off a table, and possibly into a getaway car waiting around a corner.

The suspect in question is an ant, and we know its gender because almost all workers ants are female. Ultimately the robbery attempt was unsuccessful, but, if fame was what the six-legged thief was after, she certainly found it on YouTube.

HOW HARD IS A DIAMOND REALLY?

They say that the diamond is really hard, but what does that mean? The Hydraulic Press Channel decided to find out. Launched in October 2015 and operated by Finnish factory owner Lauri Vuohensilta and his wife Anni, the popular YouTube outlet publishes videos of various objects being crushed in a hydraulic press.

This time they took on a GIA-certified polished diamond. The results can be viewed online and are not quite what you may expect.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BURN A DIAMOND

It started out as an experiment designed to tell the difference between a real a diamond and an imitation one made of glass, and it involved heating the two stones to an extreme temperature and then dropping both of them into a jar of liquid oxygen.

Which of the two stones would suffer the greatest damage? You will need to view the video to find out.

A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL FAIL

Seth Dixon planned on proposing to his girlfriend on a bridge above a stream in Loose Park, in Kansas City, USA.  Going down on one knee, he opened the little black box to reveal the diamond engagement ring, which popped out and then fell through a tiny crack in the boards of the bridge, into the water below.

Fortunately for many thousands of people around the world, the scene was captured on camera. And, fortunately for Seth and his now wife, a diver later managed to locate the ring and return it to the couple.

WILL YOU MARRY ME, NAMASTE?

The emergence of YouTube as a cultural force spawned not only a wealth of viral videos, but also inspired creative minds to come up with ways of doing things differently. Proposing marriage took on a variety of forms that earlier may never have been thought of. The only requirement was that the moment be recorded for posterity on camera.

And so it was for a yoga enthusiast, who sought to pop the question to his partner, who as it turns out is also a yoga enthusiast. He surprised her during a session on the beach.

THE FLASH MOB PROPOSAL

The flash mob is another cultural phenomenon, generally inspired by YouTube. It involves a group of at least 10 people, and sometimes a great many more, who assemble suddenly in a public place, and then sing, dance or play a variety of musical instruments. The goal it to surprise onlookers who just happen to be there, and sometimes to encourage them to be part of the action.

They also make for spectacular marriage proposals. One flash mob video that went viral involved Samuel, who decided on a novel approach to ask his girlfriend, Anitria, for her hand in marriage.

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