Can you tell FCD from their "color sisters" of gem stones?

[pricescopenewbie]

I myself could only speak for yellow diamond vs. yellow sapphire. to me a good yellow diamond is more sparkly then a yellow sapphire, and the color differences can be more obvious when colors get more intense . but in certain lighting, they look similar to me. I can't tell between black diamond vs. good quality black CZ.

I haven't personally seen FCD of other colors yet. my eyes are not trained, of course, to tell the differences. but sometimes it makes me wonder why do i have to throw all my money on expensive FCD if the differences are not that obvious?

what do you think? i would like to discuss with you which fancy colored diamonds are good investments, and which are better go with the gem stone alternatives

 

[kenny]

Re: Can you tell FCD from their "color sisters" of gem stone

It's not only about the exact color match.
It's also about what the various gem materials do to light.
Some gems change the direction light more than others and this is affects light performance.

Diamond has the highest index of refraction.
How light behaves entering, leaving and in the diamond is unique to diamond.

That said, FCDs cut for good light performance are even more rare than white diamonds cut for good light performance.
FCDs are cut to make the color as strong as possible and a diamond that is as heavy as possible, not to get good light performance.
The odds of finding an FCD and a non-FCD gem that are identical is Zero!

If you had, say, a sapphire and a diamond (with identical hue, tone and saturation) both cut to proportions that take the two material's index of refraction in to account with the goal of similar light performance, you'd have a VERY expensive experiment, and I think they would not have identical light performance.

But, I'd love it if KarlK or another diamond design/cut expert would answer the last paragraph above.

 

[distracts]

Re: Can you tell FCD from their "color sisters" of gem stone

Yeah, FCDs look really different to me than other gemstones of the same color. With the possible exception of moissanite - I have never seen color moissanite near FCDs but it sure fools me when I see it alone!

 

[chrono]

Re: Can you tell FCD from their "color sisters" of gem stone

I can tell the difference easily for most gemstones & FCDs due to the way they reflect light differently.