Is Scratching a Diamond Possible?

This level of hardness places diamonds at the top of the Mohs scale for hardness. It was derived by Friedrich Mohs in the 19th Century, and places diamond at the hardest at 10, with all minerals falling somewhere between this and talc, which is the softest. Every mineral can be scratched by the ones above it on this scale. Diamond, being at the top, has no mineral harder than it.

The color of a diamond does not determine its hardness. That means even colored diamonds have the same hardness as white diamonds, and each is capable of scratching the others. That does not, however, precludes them from being damaged. Diamonds have “soft spots” where if you hit them at the right angle, they can fracture, chip, or get otherwise damaged. This is probably what gave birth to stories of diamond cutters studying stones for several weeks before beginning work on them.