It's hard to imagine something so expensive could burn very easily. One scientist found taht burning diamonds would be easy using liquid nitrogen and some fire. Even though diamonds are hard, the chemical bonds that hold the carbon atoms in diamond together are weaker than the chemical bonds that hold together the other common form of pure carbon, graphite. The difference between diamonds and graphite is that diamonds chemical bonds create a inflexible bond where in graphite the chemicals are tightly bonded to make sheets stacked on top of each other. It is the chemicals bonds strength not hardness that determines how easily something catches on fire. If your house burns down with the jewels inside it , you can collect the melted gold, but the diamonds will be gone with a little bit of C02.
Source: Gray, Theodore. (10/8/2009) Gone in a Flash, 4/8/2014
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-08/burn-diamonds-torch-and-liquid-oxygen
Photo Credits: http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/article_image_large/public/images/2009/08/diamond3.jpg?itok=i_Q530Po
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