What is the deal with this blue diamond? Synthetic, natural, treated?
January 26, 2015 10:31 AM Subscribe
I've recently acquired a beautiful ring with a 2 carat blue diamond in the middle and two smaller white diamonds on either side, in white gold. Nothing special about the setting, and I will have to get it reset sooner than later, since the band's wearing thin. But I'm curious what's up with this big blue shiny rock.
I know this is more likely than not to be a treated and not naturally colored diamond. BUT it has a large, dark inclusion near the center of the stone. And the color of the stone is more of a light minty blue than anything like a true blue.
- Would a man-made diamond have a big dark inclusion in it? It seems like they would use only perfect ones, if they're lab created.
- I put them under a black light and all three stones seemed to fluoresce -- am I right to think this means they are synthetic?
- Would a treated stone be this minty blue-green or are they all more blue?
- If I take it to a jeweler would they be able to tell all this instantly?
- I don't know how much was paid for it but I do know it was bought in a pawn shop.
The answers won't affect how much I love this stone/ring, I'm just curious.
Anonymous because I'd rather my friends/coworkers think it's a fake than that I have a 2 carat diamond on my hand.
I know this is more likely than not to be a treated and not naturally colored diamond. BUT it has a large, dark inclusion near the center of the stone. And the color of the stone is more of a light minty blue than anything like a true blue.
- Would a man-made diamond have a big dark inclusion in it? It seems like they would use only perfect ones, if they're lab created.
- I put them under a black light and all three stones seemed to fluoresce -- am I right to think this means they are synthetic?
- Would a treated stone be this minty blue-green or are they all more blue?
- If I take it to a jeweler would they be able to tell all this instantly?
- I don't know how much was paid for it but I do know it was bought in a pawn shop.
The answers won't affect how much I love this stone/ring, I'm just curious.
Anonymous because I'd rather my friends/coworkers think it's a fake than that I have a 2 carat diamond on my hand.
Why no photo?
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"I'd rather my friends/coworkers think it's a fake than that I have a 2 carat diamond on my hand"
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Just fwiw, if I saw such a ring on someone (even someone non-ritzy), and the person didn't otherwise seem trashy or vulgar, I'd assume it was real. It's unlikely an everyday person would walk around with some exquisite giant gem, but more unlikely a non-vulgar person would be sporting some fake giant gem. So you may want to rethink your strategy, particularly with regard to theft risk (also: develop an instinct for quickly flipping the thing 180 degrees if you find yourself somewhere dodgy). Re: friends, you need to decide whether you're going to flatly lie if/when questioned directly.
posted by Quisp Lover at 10:55 AM on January 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
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"I'd rather my friends/coworkers think it's a fake than that I have a 2 carat diamond on my hand"
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Just fwiw, if I saw such a ring on someone (even someone non-ritzy), and the person didn't otherwise seem trashy or vulgar, I'd assume it was real. It's unlikely an everyday person would walk around with some exquisite giant gem, but more unlikely a non-vulgar person would be sporting some fake giant gem. So you may want to rethink your strategy, particularly with regard to theft risk (also: develop an instinct for quickly flipping the thing 180 degrees if you find yourself somewhere dodgy). Re: friends, you need to decide whether you're going to flatly lie if/when questioned directly.
posted by Quisp Lover at 10:55 AM on January 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I would take it to a jeweler. It could be a blue diamond, but I would hedge that it's some other semiprecious stone like tourmaline, tanzanite, topaz, blue sapphire, all of which can be quite pretty when clear and cut like a diamond.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:55 AM on January 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:55 AM on January 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh yes, take it to a jeweler. Most will be happy to look at your ring and tell you what the stones are and tell you what to do to resize it.
Sapphires come in blue and white. I had a sapphire ring in yellow and white sapphires. They can have inclusions.
I'd love to see a picture!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:11 AM on January 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sapphires come in blue and white. I had a sapphire ring in yellow and white sapphires. They can have inclusions.
I'd love to see a picture!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:11 AM on January 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
A proper appraisal is pretty affordable and, in my experience, they'll waive or significantly reduce the fee if it turns out your ring is not worth much. If it is valuable, they can provide the documentation needed for insurance purposes. If you happen to be in NYC, I can recommend someone.
posted by melissasaurus at 11:20 AM on January 26, 2015
posted by melissasaurus at 11:20 AM on January 26, 2015
- Would a man-made diamond have a big dark inclusion in it? It seems like they would use only perfect ones, if they're lab created.They actually radiate imperfect stones, not perfect ones, because high-quality clear diamonds don't need color to make them valuable - and radiating them actually destroys some via induced-stress fracturing, so why risk a valuable diamond? Therefore, the inclusion means nothing regarding natural/fake.
The intense color suggests radiation - it occurs in nature, but 90-99% of the highly colored diamonds today are irradiated.
Basically, only non-occluded white and near-white stones are likely to be "natural", at this point.
the color of the stone is more of a light minty blue than anything like a true blue.Radiation can generate any color, and the resultant color and intensity are not predictable. Basically, radiation-color-enhancing is a complete crapshot, done only with near-worthless gems - but that includes 90% of all gems found.
- Would a treated stone be this minty blue-green or are they all more blue?
- If I take it to a jeweler would they be able to tell all this instantly?Yes, except for radiation - that requires microscopic inspection, AFAIK.
Ruthless Bunny: Sapphires come in blue and white.Sapphires can come in any color. When they are red they are called "rubies" - which are nothing more than red Al2O3 crystals.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:22 AM on January 26, 2015 [12 favorites]
If I take it to a jeweler would they be able to tell all this instantly?
Yes.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:04 PM on January 26, 2015
Yes.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:04 PM on January 26, 2015
Why do you have reason to believe it's a diamond? As a geologist, there are quite a few things this could be, and diamond is not the first on my list. Still, it COULD be, and there's a simple test the jeweler can do, and shouldn't even charge for it. Not that it really matters, in the end.
Either way, you can see if it scratches a bit of glass. That's the first, obvious test to see if it's even worth getting looked at.
posted by aggyface at 1:31 PM on January 26, 2015
Either way, you can see if it scratches a bit of glass. That's the first, obvious test to see if it's even worth getting looked at.
posted by aggyface at 1:31 PM on January 26, 2015
aggyface: Either way, you can see if it scratches a bit of glass. That's the first, obvious test to see if it's even worth getting looked at.Sapphire, ruby(obv), diamond, and CZs (cubic zirconium) all scratch glass, BTW.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:27 AM on January 27, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cecic at 10:43 AM on January 26, 2015