This paper reports on the kinetics of diamond nucleation and growth on polycrystalline copper investigated by in situ Auger Electron Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Copper is a reference substrate to study the diamond nucleation from graphite. The substrate is first treated with diamond paste. However the diamond seeds let on the surface by the pre-treatment are almost completely transfortned into graphite. The nucleation of CVD diamond can be well described in the framework of carbon phase transformations. Diamond seeds deposited on the substrate are first transformed into graphitic layers. A process occurring on the edges site of graphite is subsequently postulated, in agreement with the Lambrecht model. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.