Everyone is familiar with diamonds. They're sparkle, brilliance and fire are among the most beautiful visual effects in the gemstone world. Most people think of the perfect diamond like a miniature chandelier, glistening with a clear yet breathtaking transparency.
Sometimes though, we do find beauty in the exact opposite of a classical ideal. The same can be seen in the recent appreciation trend for black diamonds. These dark, almost bewitching stones have added their own appeal to the talents of many fashion forward designer brands and jewellery houses. Their sharp, ebony luster seems to cut through the usual conventions of how diamonds are normally seen.
Most Black Diamonds in Today's Jewelry Markets are Safely Irradiation Enhanced to Create the Darkened Color.
Though despite their reception, a lot of people don't seem to understand what black diamonds are from a gemological stand point. Many don't even think that they're real diamonds at all. Others assume they're some kind of glass or obsidian gem that was faceted in the round brilliant cutting style.
Here we'll take a quick look at the black diamonds currently circulating around the trade.
Yes, there are many imitations, but let's define the legitimate black diamonds that reputable dealers supply to the general public today. They are indeed diamonds, but what causes them to appear as jet black as they are?
A majority of black diamonds that are available today are actually the products of treatment. They are diamonds that have undergone irradiation procedures (and possibly annealing processes), to change their color into a very dark and deep green. This resulting color is so dark in fact, that it appears nearly pitch black to the human eye.
Treatments can also create very dark brownish orange colors in the same notion, so dark in tone that people label them as black diamonds.
There are also other ways to induce a black color in diamonds. Applications of high pressure and high temperatures (HPHT treatment) can be used on lower quality diamonds for several hours to induce graphite residues. Graphite is grayish black and is also composed purely of carbon. This instance will make the diamond appear to be black, but also compromises its durability to some extent.
There are also other ways of producing a very dark color within a stone so that it appears to be black, but these two methods are by far the most common techniques used in today's trade.
Natural black diamonds are present in the trade, but they're also quite rare. These have been observed to sometimes acquire their color from the presence of graphite microcrystallites that are so small, they can form along the natural growth planes of the diamond itself.
Almost all the black diamonds used in our current jewellery industry are products of some form of treatment.
Synthetic diamonds can also be treated to appear dark or black, and these cost less than the treated naturals.
Black diamonds that have had their colors caused by irradiation and annealing are not as high priced as colorless diamonds in general. Most people might say that a black diamond usually fetches about an eighth to a tenth of the price rate on an equivalently sized, middle-grade colorless diamond.
Nevertheless, these stones are a modern favorite of jewellery designers looking to play with the aspects of contrast and brilliance in their pieces. Black diamonds add an exemplary edge to the contemporary styles brought forward by newer fashions and trends.
