从经济价值而言，金刚石是最昂贵的宝石饰品；从科学意义而言，它还是直接可以提供地幔的物理状态与化学组成的窗口。笔者简要介绍了金刚石在自然界的产状、形成条件、不纯净组分、各类包裹体的特征以及成因模型。金刚石最主要的寄主岩为地幔橄榄岩和榴辉岩。金刚石中的同生包裹体可以为其形成时的寄主岩组成、温压条件、在地幔中的存留年龄提供重要的依据。近20多年来在金刚石中发现了深达下地幔的超深矿物包裹体，它又成为了认识全部地幔物质组成的唯一窗口。

From the point on economic value of diamond, it is the very expensive gemstone; from the point on science mining, it is a window to provide the physical states and chemical compositions of mantle. The nature occurrences of diamonds, the forming condition, its impurities, the feature of varied inclusions, and the origin model of diamonds have been introduced briefly. The major host rocks are peridotites and eclogites. Syngenetic inclusions in diamonds can offer the important evidences on the composition of host rocks, P-T condition of diamonds and residence ages in mantle of diamonds. In the last two decades ultra deep mineral assemblages as inclusions in diamonds were discovered and they may come from transition zone and lower mantle. According to this discovery diamonds are perhaps the unique window to recognized whole mantle.