Clarity enhanced diamond

[Kelly]

I have been surfing the internet quite a bit to get information on clarity enhanced diamonds. The sellers tout this as being a great way to go to get larger, cleaner diamonds. Is there a downside?
Can the average person when they look at your diamond tell that it has been "cleaned up"

[Joselyn]

I would think that the average person cannot tell that an enhanced diamond is enhanced. There are some downsides though.

Fracture Filling is the main clarity enhancement as far as I know. If you have a large feather in the stone (an inclusion that reaches and breaks the surface of the stone and then extends into the stone) you can fill these with a resin type of material. This tends to help disguise the feather but presents problems for jewelers who don't know about it ahead of time. It's fairly easy to detect, the filling material won't have the same refractive properties as the diamond, so you'll see a "flash effect" which you'll notice as color (usually blue if I remember correctly) flashing when you tilt the stone around. This material can be melted out of the stone or burned while in the stone if a jeweler is doing a tipping job or other job that uses the torch and doesn't check to see if it's filled. These stones MUST be removed before torch work is performed, I'd assume a laser wouldn't affect it, but again, verify that with others here :). This filling is also affected in ultrasonic cleaners, so you have to be careful there too. Some companies guarantee their fillings (I believe Yehuda) that if they ever come out they'll refill the stone.

Can you get a larger diamond for less money? Yes, but you have some durability issues you have to deal with. Just remember that you have to tell the jeweler anytime you take your stone in for repairs

Hope this info was helpful!

Joselyn

[Gregory Diamond]

I have a friend that carries that %@$# overseas. He showed me some fancy yellow clarity enhanced diamonds and I had a VERY tough time identifying it.

The color of the stone was somehow masking the identifying characteristics.

Make sure you know who you are buying your diamonds from!

Greg

[panachegems]

I can affirm that ! I am the proud owner of a 1.0ct "G" enhanced stone. I bought a beautiful Mans ring in the Vintage section of a South FL. Jewelry Store. It was a beauty under the loupe and an easy VS1. Later (many months) I cleaned the ring and scoped it, oh oh' was that a purple/blue flash?
Yep!
Now when I buy Diamonds out of my circles I use a 14X and I turn the stone inside out. It only takes once to learn. The stone is beautiful and I wear it as a pinky as I won't sell it.
AC :o

[Kelly]

How can the average consumer buying a piece of jewelry know if their diamond has been treated?

[Joselyn]

Legally and ethically the seller is supposed to disclose that their stones are treated (assuming they know they're treated). There should be something in the ad or attached to the tag that clearly states that the stone is enhanced. It all goes back to knowing who you are buying from.

[Kelly]

So unless you really trust your jeweler one has to pretty much just go on faith that they aren't selling diamonds that have been treated?

Are there many treated stones out there?

[Brian Knox]

Kelly,

Last time I checked, GIA would not issue grading reports on diamonds that have been fracture filled.

As well, GIA will make mention on the report if the diamond has been laser drilled to improve clarity.

[denverappraiser]

How can the average consumer buying a piece of jewelry know if their diamond has been treated?

Buy from reliable dealers.
Use reliable appraisers.
Buy the diamond, not the paper.

These are the same ways you can know if your stones are properly described in other ways as well.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver (http://www.gemlab.us)

[Gregory Diamond]

There is a market for it no matter what I choose to sell and if they are sold with full disclosure I have no problem with them.

in my opinion IF legitimate, affordable synthetic diamonds ever hit the market CE is toast.


Greg

[Bonzo]

Yes, CE will be toast but the price for the highly included I-12s will go up because you will be able to tell at a glance they are a real diamond. :)

[CzeshireCat]

Can the identical treatment be performed on coloured stones with good effect?

[Joselyn]

Can the identical treatment be performed on coloured stones with good effect?

Fracture filling is commonly done in Emeralds to lessen the cracking inside the stone (This is also called oiling in emeralds.)

I think some corrundum is also seeing a bit of fillings recently (Ruby in particular).

The effect is the same though. You heat the stone and you have toast. It is no more or less durable in colored stones as in diamonds as far as I know.

[Diamonds]

The majority of Fine Emeralds which are on the market today are oiled to improve the look of the emerald. This is not a bad thing. Most people would not even consider an emerald that has not been oiled, they relly are not nice looking. To find an Emerald which does not need oiling and is of a fine quality is very rare to find and cost prohibitive.

There is a new synthetic ruby out there which is very difficult to detect that is coming out of Bangkok. GIA covered this at their update on Rubies, Emeralds and Sapphires conference in Tucson a few months ago.

[islandmon]

There is a new synthetic ruby out there which is very difficult to detect that is coming out of Bangkok.
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Actually, it is an old synthetic stone with some interesting treatments.

They are using good old fashioned flame-fusion rubies and quench-crackling them to induce inclusions into a normally near-flawless stone. Then they heat the stones to re-heal the induced fractures. The result is very natural looking re-heal fingerprints. It also hides the curved straie that is a diagnostic indentification for flame-fusion stones.

Occaisionally they will use some flux in the heating process, but these fingerprints are much easier to identify as flux inclusions.

I know of one person that bought a business of 64 stones in Thailand for $100K after being told they were so cheap because they were illegally smuggled out of Burma and should be worth $500K in the US markets.

The sucker now has about 200 bux worth of synthetic junk. An expensive lesson to be sure.

Dave