Diamond Buying Guide

The Precious Guide to Diamond Buying

We have compiled our knowledge into a free downloadable guide to diamond buying. To receive your free guide, reply to this email address info@precious.ie (with “Please email me a diamond guide” in the subject) and a copy of the guide will be emailed to you.

Here are a few aspects of diamond buying you should be aware of…

• A diamond ring should be matched to perfectly complement your own hand – you should be careful buying online as it is difficult to picture how the ring will look on your finger.
• Does the diamond match the online diamond certificates?
• We also want you to have the best diamond buying experience possible. Here are a few important areas to be aware of:
• Be aware of hidden costs and risks of purchase.
• Be especially aware of treated diamonds.

For many years diamonds have been treated to try and improve the natural qualities of the diamond. One of the oldest tricks in the book involved placing a dot of ink on the diamond cut. Until today there are many modern techniques that attempt to raise the apparent worth and quality of a diamond.

It is said that 80% of New York diamonds are treated. Some methods enhance the clarity of a diamond, others the colour of a diamond. Treatments include the following:

Cleavage filling/Yehuda, Laser Drilling/Bleaching, Irradiation, High pressure/High Temperature treatment/Deep Boiling, Coating

Cleavage filling/Yehuda

Cleavage filling is the process of filling natural cracks or cleavages. The filling is usually molten glass. The point of this treatment is to decrease the visibility of such a crack as any defect will seriously decrease clarity and thus value.

No HRD certificate will be issued to a diamond with a cleavage filling.

Laser Drilling/Bleaching

This technique involves using laser beams to drill a small hole in diamond. Boiling acid is pored into this passage in order to remove or to bleach dark inclusions. The aim of this treatment is to improve the clarity of the stone. A diamond that has undergone this type of treatment is less valuable than a stone with comparable natural clarity.

Irradiation

Artificial irradiation is no longer allowed in the EU due to the detrimental effect on health. But in the USA, Russia and other countries this irradiation continues. Nuclear rays shoot the carbon atoms out of their position in the crystal lattice, leaving behind a vacancy. These vacancies disturb the normal crystal and electron structure of the diamond, are unstable and absorb energy in the red part of the spectrum. This results in the typical green-blue colour of irradiated diamonds.

The purpose of this treatment is to create fancy coloured diamonds unnaturally or to enhance the colour of a poorly coloured stone.

High pressure/ High Temperature treatment/Deep Boiling

This treatment makes brown stones lighter or creates yellow-green diamonds depending on the initial qualities of the diamond. The conditions created during this treatment are very similar to those of the diamonds’ original formation deep under the Earth’s crust. That alone makes detection of this treatment problematic.

Coating

Coating on polished diamonds refers to thin artificial layers that alter the colour. The surface of a diamond can be covered completely or a coating can be applied to a narrow zone near the girdle. This treatment is of course fraudulent and must always be detected. A coating can be easily scratched and thus a fake unmasked by relatively simple means.