Color Enhance Diamond

WHAT IS A COLOR ENHANCED DIAMOND?

Natural color enhanced diamonds are natural, mined diamonds. Once they are faceted, they are treated in a couple of different ways, which include electronic beam and high heat. The treatments simulate what actually happens in nature to give diamonds color.

Color enhanced diamonds typically have more intense color than you will find in nature, but the cost is usually a fraction of what the natural, untreated diamond would be.

When purchasing a fancy color diamond, you need to be aware of whether or not the diamond you are purchasing possesses color naturally or through enhancement techniques. The most valuable and rare will of course be natural fancy color diamonds that were mined with the color you see and developed it naturally. However, you can also come across fancy color diamonds that were altered using color enhancements techniques. The value difference between a natural colored diamond and one that has been enhanced is exponential, thus you should be wary of any retailer that does not clearly document whether their diamonds have been color enhanced. To ensure you aren’t overpaying, you should know whether or not the diamond you are looking to purchase is a natural fancy color diamond or one that has been color enhanced.

There are three primary methods for changing the color of a diamond considered to be permanent. Those include the application of high pressure and high heat, irradiation, and the application of a coating. The first two are generally accepted as permanent changes to the diamonds color, but a coating can be worn down over time. Thereby, if you choose to purchase a fancy color diamond that has been color enhanced, it is recommended you acquire one that has been treated with one of the first two methods of enhancement.

Enhancement Methods

Designed to increase the beauty of the diamond, several treatments are used to enhance the stone by reducing the appearance of naturally-occurring flaws that affect the transparency, color, and sparkle. The clarity of the diamond is usually enhanced by laser drilling or fracture filling, while the stone’s color can be enhanced by high-pressure high-temperature treatment (HPHT).

Laser drilling uses heat, or injects chemicals into the diamond, to make discolorations and small flaws less visible. Sometimes, laser drilling is followed with fracture filling to further decrease the visibility of small cracks. Fracture filling involves adding a glass-like resin into the diamond to close small cracks, making imperfections invisible to the human eye. In order to permanently alter the color of the diamond, HPHT may be used. This method of enhancing a diamond uses a cubic press to recreate the natural, diamond-forming conditions of the Earth. Depending on the chemicals involved, the diamond will either exhibit a fancy color or be colorless following the treatment.

Benefits of Purchasing an Enhanced Diamond

Cost

Saving money on your stone is the greatest benefit of purchasing an enhanced diamond over a natural one. On average, enhanced stones cost 30-50% less than those which are natural. Many buyers want a diamond that is perfectly colorless and clear of imperfections, narrowing their selection of diamonds to only those of the highest quality and raising the price significantly.

Initial Appearance

Fracture filled enhanced diamonds show a noticeable improvement in appearance following treatment, since imperfections are no longer visible by the naked eye. Small cracks and feathering seem to magically disappear, while bleaching solutions injected into the stone void it of any color.
While the sparkling beauty and lower cost of an enhanced stone appear to make it the ideal choice, you need to consider the durability of your diamond over a long period of time.