Yvon Chouinard bought a second-hand coal-fired forge in 1957, and started making hardened steel pitons under the Great Pacific Iron Works name. Their success led him to form Chouinard Equipment, Ltd. He partnered with Tom Frost, and they moved their operation to Ventura California in 1967. The Chouinard product line expanded into a wade variety of climbing and related outdoor gear. In 1971-1972, they introduced Hexentrics and Stoppers. Frost left the operation in 1977, and his name was removed from ice axes and other products that had born the CBouinard-Frost name.
In 1989, Chouinard Equipment was facing a liability lawsuit. Chouinard had to separate the liability of Chouinard Equipment from the deep pockets of Patagonia, which he had founded in 1973. Chouinard Equipment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect the firm's assets. The lawsuit ultimately went nowhere. Peter Metcalf, Maria Cranor and former Chouinard Equipment employees purchased the company assets in 1989, formed Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., and moved the firm to Salt Lake City Utah.
Initially Black Diamond continued using the "C-inside-a-diamond" logo inherited from Chouinard Equipment. Over time, this logo evolved into the current "cut diamond" design. The exact year of this transition isn't precisely documented, discussions among climbers suggest that the new logo was introduced around the year 2000. Archived web pages show that the cut diamond was in use by the beginning of 2000, but the 2000 summer catalog still contains the older logo.
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↑ Set 226-230: Black Diamond Camalots; #1–#4
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↑ 226: Black Diamond Camalot; #1
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↑ 227: Black Diamond Camalot; #2
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↑ 228: Black Diamond Camalot; #3
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↑ 229: Black Diamond Camalot; #3.5
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↑ 230: Black Diamond Camalot; #4
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↑ 880: Black Diamond Camalot; #4.5
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↑ 026: Black Diamond Camalot
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↑ 025: Black Diamond Camalot; C4, #5
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↑ 024: Black Diamond Camalot; C4, #6
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↑ 023: Black Diamond Camalot; C4, #7
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↑ 022: Black Diamond Camalot; C4, #8