A startling scientific discovery has journalists proclaiming “maybe diamonds really are forever.”

Micro-slivers of diamonds recently discovered in western Australia are 4 billion years old, or within 300 million years of the Earth’s formation. These diamonds, no thicker than a hair and of no use in jewelry, are 1 billion years older than the diamonds previously thought to be the world’s oldest, and scientists are using them to uncover clues about the earth’s formation.

The diamonds were found in zircon crystals, which, scientists said, is not to be confused with cubic zirconia.