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Who''s seen man-made blue diamonds?

HikerGirl

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
7
Hi-
I recently learned about man-made blue diamonds (a la D.Nea, Takara, etc.) and they are quickly becoming my new obsession. I''ve only seen pictures of them, though, and I find that photos can be very misleading in conveying what gemstones actually look like. Who''s seen them in person? How do they compare in appearance to other blue stones (like lighter sapphires, topaz, aquamarine, etc)? Are the sparkly like colorless diamonds tend to be?

Thanks!
 

EEFranklin

Shiny_Rock
Trade
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
125
I have seen plenty in person
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Many of our customers have told us our photos are pretty close to the in-person color, though obviously they don''t show the sparkle and computer monitors vary. I described the blue diamond shades in more detail in this thread.

A normal sapphire is closest to a fancy dark blue diamond. Aquamarine is closest to a fancy light blue. Topaz comes in quite a few different shades so it is hard to generalize, but topaz is usually more "neon" than natural diamond colors. The diamonds have a pure blue color whereas aqua and some topaz have green color in them.

Colored diamonds have all the same brilliance, scintillation, fire and beauty as a colorless diamond, though they have colored light coming out of them in addition to white. ''Fancy deep'' and ''fancy dark'' colors don''t return as much white light as less saturated colors so by comparison, ''fancy vivid'' and lighter shades are more what you would expect when comparing the sparkle against a white diamond.
 

HikerGirl

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
7
Thank you so much!! I looked at your other posting, and it was quite helpful. They''re so purdy... Will be sending the pics on to my BF, wink wink
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Rock of Luv

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
7
Can you see hearts and arrows in these stones? Also how does cut affect the stones light performance? Lastly whaat is your best selling shade of blue? Thanks for your time.
 

EEFranklin

Shiny_Rock
Trade
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
125
Many of our diamonds, in any color, show hearts and arrows. You can see some arrows in our online photos, though we don''t photograph them specifically to show the arrows.

The cut is essentially the same with our colored diamonds as with white diamonds (same number and arrangement of facets), though the blues and yellows are cut for maximum color light performance, rather than white light. The difference is minor and varies from diamond to diamond, but is enough that traditional white diamond cut charts don''t accurately gauge the cut quality of colored diamonds. Our diamonds are hand-cut in Antwerp for beauty rather than weight and as a result, there are very few "bad" cuts. Generally speaking, the individual beauty of a blue diamond has more to do with the color than a couple percentage points in a cut parameter.

Our sales by shade are pretty evenly distributed and there isn''t one clear best seller. Some people want a saturated vivid or deep blue, closest to a sapphire. Others choose light or fancy light, closest to a white, while some want a color similar to an aquamarine, choosing fancy light or fancy blue. Most just pick their favorite shade. Just like with shape or size, there isn''t really a right or wrong color, just whatever you like best. Due to limited availability, sometimes your other parameters (shape & carat especially) determine the color for you. Radiant and princess tend to concentrate the color more and larger sizes tends to be a little more saturated.

I''ve posted it elsewhere, but here are most of the blues next to each other:
chart-blue-diamond-color.jpg
 

anni02b

Rough_Rock
Trade
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
15
Is this for sure Diamond
which is like the Diamond Diamond
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with all the that sprakel
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and wows
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and yahhhh
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and this is it the Real Diamond Diamon
 

SLCDJ

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
13
Call it my civil duty or the boy scout in me or whatever...But, these Sitara gems on the link provided are not diamonds. These are a simulant which should be discussed somewhere else outside of this forum. Those on this forum trying to find accurate information about lab-created diamonds have come to a good place. Try not to get confused with diamond simulants and true lab-created diamonds, they are different in many ways. One, among many, is the hardness. The Sitaragems state their hardness to be a 9.1 on the hardness scale. True lab-created diamonds (D.NEA, Gemesis and others referenced throughout this forum) test at a 10 on the hardness scale. While it appears close, a 10 on the hardness scale is exponentially harder than a 9.1 See graph of Moh''s/Vickers here--> http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/Fundamentals/HardnessTrends29IL.pdf)

Amongst other things a Sitaragem states a price of $225/carat for a D,E color IF,VVS1. There will never be a diamond of this quality--natural or lab-grown--for this cheap! A lab-created diamond of such quality would command a much, much higher price than that. The cost to cut that same lab-created diamond alone would more than likely be more than the $225 total.

There is a place for diamond simulants in the world, however the place to discuss them is not in a forum of true diamonds. The properties of lab-grown diamonds are detailed quite accurately throughout this MMD forum and sites such as D.NEA diamonds or Gemesis have excellent information. Thank you for the stimulating thought, photos and candid discussion on real lab-grown diamonds EEFranklin.
 

SLCDJ

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
13
My wife has a co-worker who has recently purchased one of these D.NEA blue diamonds. My wife was stunned at it''s beauty and they are quickly becoming a sort of obsession to her. Are these blues available in 2 carat+?
 

Rock of Luv

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
7
Was it by chance an engagement ring? I''m kind of curious as to the popularity of blue diamonds as an engagement ring.
 

EEFranklin

Shiny_Rock
Trade
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
125
You are absolutely correct, SLCDJ. The link above is a simulant and a moderator should probably unlink it, since simulants are not allowed to be discussed on these boards.

We are the largest producer of blues, both by carat weight and volume, and the largest blues we have are around 1.3ct. We are hoping to have some around 1.5ct later this year but 2.0ct will still be a little while. We do include a 100% trade-up though, if you can''t wait
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We do sell some for fashion and self-purchases, but a majority of our diamonds are set into in wedding jewelry (or at least ring styles that could be used as an engagement ring, since we don''t always know what occasion they are purchased for).

We have all been marketed for decades that a diamond should be used in an engagement ring, so most people prefer their ring to have a diamond rather than another gemstone. Fancy colored mined diamonds cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per carat so most people don''t even realize diamonds exist in colors other than white. With man-made diamonds becoming available in the past few years, non-white diamonds have come within reach for anyone diamond shopping. It is entirely a personal preference and they''re not for everyone, but a lot of people are very happy with their colored diamond engagement rings.
 

SLCDJ

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
13
Rock of Luv, She is wearing it as her wedding ring, However she has been married or several years now. I think if I heard her right they replaced her original stone with this blue diamond. It looks fantastic, It is hard to define how cool the light coming out of a blue diamond looks in real life, but it is spectacular. I would imagine that anyone getting engaged would be thrilled to have that stone. It is entirely unique and IMHO looks far superior to ordinary white diamond.
 

DiamanteBlu

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
2,501
OK I'm getting in line for a 2+ carat vivid blue . . . or maybe 2 . . . earrings!
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BTW, I seem to recall a comment that Mark Morrell made on his site - that he had recently set a syntetic blue and that was amazed at its beauty. I tried to find the quote but was unable to.
 

periwinklegirl

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
1,007
Hi RockofLuv,
My beautiful blue halo is a an engagement ring. Both my partner and I wanted to do something a little different. We wanted to avoid both conflict diamonds and mined diamonds (being Canadians we know what an ecological disaster Canadian diamonds are). Also, my partner thinks that the big white stones (and lookalikes) are too common now, and he wanted me to have something special, and rare. So I have a blue diamond. I get compliments all the time and most people have never seen a blue diamond before!

Thanks again to Eric of D.NEA who managed to assuage my non-online-shopping partner's fears and generally facilitate the process!

PS. Wow does the halo setting ever make it pop!
 
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