MemberI’d like to be properly educated as I now realize that colored diamonds are natural but in fact so rare that most people can not acquire one. So it got me thinking, what is the process that happens?
Member@als1214: what do you mean by process? In reference to natural colored diamonds it’s the varying heat and/or pressure that makes them change colors. The colored diamonds most often seen in stores are irradiated, or “zapped” as I like to say. They are made from the less-than-desirable quality white diamonds and spruced up to look more exotic. They are less expensive than white diamonds because without the color they’d look very cloudy.
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Member@Aquaria: my diamond wasn’t less expensive than normal white diamonds. It was the same as any 1/2 carot stone. And its of good quality.
@als1214: A lot of people don’t like colored stones and look down on them. As with anything its all personal choice and perference. It doesnt bother me cause I wanted something blue and I didn’t like the sapphires I was seeing. That being said I’ve seen a variety of blue colors. Some have a green tint some don’t.
It is a heat process that is used.
MemberWell, coloured diamonds are formed the same way as white diamonds i.e. through extreme heat & pressure deep in the Earth’s crust which creates the characteristic diamond lattice structure. Colours in diamonds are mostly caused by interstitial impurities within the diamond lattice eg. nitrogen makes diamonds yellow, boron makes diamonds blue, but can also arise through other causes eg. exposure to radiation can turn them green.
Natural coloured diamonds are extremely expensive, far more pricey than colourless. It is possible to treat diamonds in a lab to give them colour, and these lab-coloured diamonds are much MUCH cheaper than natural coloured diamonds. Natural coloured diamonds aren’t so rare that no-one has them – I have a natural yellow diamond, but they are far less common than colourless and jewellers who trade in them and know how to cut and set them properly are few and far between.
Member@cece_intheuk: Just out of curiosity, what size is your yellow diamond? I bet it’s amazing.
MemberA natural colorless diamond ( so various range of quality same as colorless ) is irradiated to various color , in my case Blue . my then bf took a Swavorski crystal in to guide the coloring / irradiation process. He purchased a flawless stone and says he was told 100 times before the jeweler did it “was he sure’ ‘value will be decreased…’ etc but hd knew that’s what I would love sinice I said blue topaz would be just fine for me!
Member@als1214: Are you familiar with the website, pricescope? It’s basically the wedding bee of diamonds/gemstones! I would recommend checking it out and posting this question there. They are extremely educated and well versed. A lot of colored gemstones on the market have been heat treated or chemically treated. It’s unfortunate because I think most consumers aren’t aware of this, so they end up overpaying for something. Treating a gemstone generally reduces its value. Some treatments are acceptable, such as heat treating or essentially baking a stone so that the heat produces a more vibrant color. Heat treatments are more acceptable than chemical or other types of treatments. I know this because I was considering a sapphire and diamond wedding band and I really wanted to learn about the different types and colors of sapphires so I did some research on pricescope.
Member@VictorianChick: I wasn’t putting down your diamond. Just going by what I’ve seen in the stores, the blue ones are generally lower priced than the white ones. The jewelry quality is still the same, they just change the color to hide the inclusions. Top quality white diamonds are usually kept white.
Member@als1214: Thanks! I do love it – it’s a 1.29 ct cushion cut.
@Aquaria: Lab-coloured blue diamonds are cheaper than white, as you said, but natural blue diamonds are ridiculously expensive.
Member@Aquaria: no you outright say mine was cheap. But its pretty much implied isn’t it? Since colored diamonds are a lessor quality and not high grade diamonds.
Ya know what I think I’m about done with the ring forum. I used to be ingnorant to all the hate that goes on until I came onto this section of the boards.
If you have under a 1 ct you are crapped on.
If you have a cluster you are looked down upon.
If you have a colored stone your ring is infeirior quality
If you have an heirloom sucks to be you cause your man couldn’t buy you something new and he is cheap.
You don’t have a dimaond well something is wrong with you.
Halo! Vs solitaire
Yellow gold is better, no white gold is; no why would you cheapskate buy white gold when you can get platinum.
What? you got a moissanite so obiviously you can’t afford real!
Yep, I used to be blissfilly ignorant to all this crap. Now, since I have been on the ring section I’ve actually started to hate my ring and I think its cause of all the negativity; which I dont get since the other sections like dress and DIY are perfectly nice.
Member@VictorianChick: I have never seen your diamond nor is it any of my business or concern what you paid for it. There’s no need to get defensive. Nowhere is this thread is anyone insulting your ring or your diamond. If you’re feeling insecure about it, it’s not because of anything stated here.
Member@VictorianChick: Aquaria didn’t say anything about your diamond. What she said is true, that a vast majority of colored diamonds on the market are not natural, and the treated colored diamonds are less expensive than natural colored diamonds. It doesn’t mean one is better than the other. You can’t be upset at someone else because you yourself weren’t educated properly on gemstones.
Member@VictorianChick: omg your blue diamond ring is truely gorgeous. Post a pic here for everyone to see it. Dont be hatin on your ring girl, those diamonds are a billion yrs old, each is one of a kind. So what if the center stone got a little blue help. Its my understanding that not any diamond can have the color altered, only the diamonds that would have eventually become that particular color. You just expedited the natural process. 🙂
MemberI was looking a natural red diamonds yesterday, they cost almost $1 mil per carat if the clarity is VS. One I was looking at, .1 carat (that’s a Tenth of a carat) sold for $53,000 an hour after I viewed it. Sheesh!
Most of theinexpensive colored diamonds you see at chain stores and the like have been radiated to give them various colors. They take cloudy or included low grade, white diamonds (basically that could not be used as white diamonds in jewelry due to their issues) and radiate /dye them to get various colors.
LeVian seems to have really gotten on this bandwagon by heavily pushing “chocolate” and othertypes of diamonds that had been considered undesirable for jewelry or irradiating thosediamonds to achieve colors they then trademark the names of,
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