Official!! Diamonds are the most expensive stuff on earth

Today's Times magazine takes a light-hearted look at high-value objects, calculated in price per kg. Those "chunks of coal made under pressure", as Henry Kissinger called diamonds, are without peer- even when considering an average one, retailing at around £6,890 per carat. On this scale, diamonds rate at £34,450,000 per kg!!

Raphael's The Madonna of the Pinks came close at £27,500,000/kg, probably suffering by virtue of being painted on a yew panel, weighing 800g.

Gold came in at £18,476/kg, an Airbus A380 at £649/kg and a Trident Nuclear Missile at £287/kg.

It's obviously that time of year when people are looking for things to occupy their minds. Unfortunately enjoying the "great British summer" has not been an option!