Beyond the 4 Cs…

[GemView]

Here are couple of curiosity questions for those of you who care to address them:

• Is the scintillation and fire of a diamond determined exclusively by the 4 Cs, or are there natural variances in diamond properties depending on the environmental conditions in which the rough developed? In other words, is it possible to compare identically cut and graded diamonds and to note something that the 4 Cs can''t account for or explain—that some diamonds simply sparkle more than others?

• Can a single diamond to contain more than one color—or is color always uniform within a single cut stone? Assuming that diamonds can and do contain more than one color even after being cut, how is the color grade determined?

Thanks!

P.S. This is a great site; I''m learning more every day!

 

[RockDoc]

Date: 8/16/2005 10:46:57 PM
Author:GemView
Here are couple of curiosity questions for those of you who care to address them:

• Is the scintillation and fire of a diamond determined exclusively by the 4 Cs, or are there natural variances in diamond properties depending on the environmental conditions in which the rough developed? In other words, is it possible to compare identically cut and graded diamonds and to note something that the 4 Cs can''t account for or explain—that some diamonds simply sparkle more than others?

• Can a single diamond to contain more than one color—or is color always uniform within a single cut stone? Assuming that diamonds can and do contain more than one color even after being cut, how is the color grade determined?

Thanks!

P.S. This is a great site; I''m learning more every day!

Dear Gem View

RE: Color - Yes a diamond can have more than one color. It is rather rare to have two color hues, but it is possible. I had one years ago which at that time I sold. Ir was a fancy yellow oval that had a white cross in the center.

It''s the only one I had seen in my 25+ years at this.

As to fire, brilliance and scintillation.

These are separate characteristics, and even stone cut similarly proportion wise can appear different to the eye in each of those categories.

Proportions alone don''t give you the complete answers. There are many other factors that do affect how a diamond will appear in this area.

Relying on only the proportional numbers is not 100% reliaible. I have found the numbers only predict accurately about 70% of the time, in a round brilliant shape stone. For fancy shapes, my experience that the numbers truly predict how a stone will look is only about 30%.

Certainly the proportion information is helpful, and should be totally eliminated, but it is only a part of the "puzzle".

Rockdoc

 

[pyramid]

Which other factors affect the look of the diamond do you think apart from the four Cs?