2 new fancy colored diamonds, blue & green

[kenny]

I couldn't decide which to get.
0.12 ct Fancy Deep Blue (no color modifiers) per GIA.
0.26 Fancy Intense Green (no color modifiers) VS2 per GIA.

In this pic, and in several other I took, neither stone is color-accurate per my eye.
I'll post more pics later, and I guarantee the color will be all over the place.
I really sympathize with vendors of colored diamonds who try to get accurate pics.

During the sale Leibish & Co. was excellent. http://www.fancydiamonds.net/
I cannot recommend them strongly enough.

 

[Nashville]

Hahaha you got both, that's awesome. I can't wait to see more pictures!!!

 

[kenny]

For now these two will be adorning the inside of my safe deposit box.

Watch the color fly all over the place, from rich to pale, in the pics I post of the green.
Viewing at different angles and the light hitting the diamond at different angles changes the intensity of the green a great deal.
I've read it a zillion times but now I truly understand you cannot judge the color of naturally colored diamonds with pics.

Notice one of several naturals to the right of the GIA number.

 

[kenny]

These unattractive brown patches of color (hopefully mentioned in the comments section of GIA reports for Natural green diamonds) is where GIA determines the green color is of natural origin.

The rough unpolished area is called a natural.
It is the original skin of the rough diamond that was intentionally left unpolished.

Green diamonds get their color from radiation stains, either natural or from human intervention.
The staining does not reach far into the stone so examining the original skin is key to verifying the green color is of natural origin.

That's why I find them very attractive.
The more the better.
They help justify the steep price for natural greens.

 

[Fly Girl]

Yum, they're here! Looking forward to your pictures.

Can you post a hand shot, too?

 

[kenny]

I love how the large culet repeats itself outside the girdle. (more on the bottom because the stone was not perfectly centered)
Note the natural at 11:00.

 

[kenny]

Sure wish it was 12 ct instead of 12 points.

 

[kenny]

Notice the culet is at an angle rather than parallel to the table.
Anyone know why?

 

[kenny]

Does a crooked culet help the color or reducing windowing?

 

[iLander]

I suspect the culet is crooked because that is where the diamond ends. If they had cut all the sides to achieve a perfect culet, it probably would have ended up as a .2 or even .18 (horrors!) carat diamond.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Stunning and beautiful, Kenny. Thanks for posting them over here in colored stones rather than a diamond thread, we don't get much diamond action over here.

But now we all want one . . .

Love the blue one. Extraordinary. Did you find out what makes it blue?

 

[Largosmom]

They are both extraordinary and beautiful, congratulations! I hope they don't always stay in the safe deposit box, they deserve admiring!

 

[T L]

Kenny,
Thank you for sharing these awesome photos of two very unique and rare fancy colored diamonds. I'm looking forward to what you have planned for them. I hope you enjoy them and you don't keep them locked away forever. Awesome photos, and so clear. Very educational to see the naturals on the green diamond like that as well.

 

[Lovinggems]

The photos are very clear and detailed, can't believe you even managed to take a photo of the GIA laser inscription.
Gorgeous diamonds Kenny. The green looks very interesting, is it ever the colour shown in the vendor's photo?

 

[Indylady]

Nice. I really like the green OEC.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Very nice Kenny! Excellent example of how gems don't photograph realistically. Congrats on your special find!

--Joshua

 

[artdecogirl]

Kenny, Your photography skills are amazing as is the subject matter! Lovely pieces.

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

I love how the large culet repeats itself outside the girdle. (more on the bottom because the stone was not perfectly centered)
Reflection of the culet is called the Kozibe effect.

 

[AustenNut]

Kenny, Your photography skills are amazing as is the subject matter! Lovely pieces.

I totally agree. Thanks for sharing!

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Congrats Kenny! The blue is much more impressive in your photos than in the vendors. The green has a lot more life to it too. Would you say Leibish did an accurate portrayal of color on the website for the green IRL? I know due to dynamics of color in stones one can never really get an accurate picture of all the colors, but mine was photographed on their site as the color it shows in most lighting. Did they do the same for the green?

 

[JewelFreak]

Kenny, thanks for putting up your wonderful photos of those beautiful diamonds! Enjoy them forever! Your info about leaving naturals is fascinating.

--- Laurie

 

[cushioncutnut]

I am glad you took the plunge and bought both! Truly beautiful diamonds ...and your pictures look awesome. Love that you got the GIA inscription! I could just see me trying to do that photo and losing the diamond do it! I hope you don't leave them in the safe deposit box for long as they deserve to be adorned!!

 

[soberguy]

Interesting stones. I don't think a vault is an appropriate place for them. WEAR THEM

 

[kenny]

The photos are very clear and detailed, can't believe you even managed to take a photo of the GIA laser inscription.
Gorgeous diamonds Kenny. The green looks very interesting, is it ever the colour shown in the vendor's photo?

Thanks all.
I'll be taking more pics over the next few days as time allows.

Besides good magnification (that means not just the power of the magnification but high quality optics), one of the keys to seeing or photographing laser inscriptions is positioning the stone, the light and the eye or camera so the inscription is backlit.

I have been asked if the stone matches the vendor pic.
I thought I knew a lot about both photography and FCDs, but this is a very surprising learning experience for me.

I am learning (with my eyes) that in real life that FCDs, (Fancy Colored Diamonds) change their color intensity every time you move them, your head or the lighting environment.
Asking if a FCD matches a vendor pic was a simple question to me a few days ago before I got these.
Today I know more and I'm going to give what I consider to be a sincerely true answer.
Yes, if I were to match the lighting, the environment and position this Green FCD can look like that.
In some conditions the green looks even more vivid and saturated than the vendor pic.

I might even go so far to say that there is no such thing as an accurate pic of a FCD.
What FCDs really look like happens over time.

For the record since threads remain here and are searchable and there is not a very large body of FCD info, I'll post their GIA reports.
Notice all the naturals they left on the girdle of the green.
The blue did not get clarity grading, I think GIA does not grade clarity on stones under .15 ct.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi Kenny,

So you got what you wanted, and more.! Congratulations. I hope you enjoyed the search.

Annette

 

[T L]

I am learning (with my eyes) that in real life that FCDs, (Fancy Colored Diamonds) change their color intensity every time you move them, your head or the lighting environment.

Very very true Kenny, that's why I told you it was best to judge it when you saw it in person. I see they meet your expectations.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Kenny, your observations about photographing colored diamonds is the same as photographing colored gems.... it's very difficult. Some stones tend to photograph better than others, I find greens to be the hardest, followed by red stones.

 

[T L]

Kenny, your observations about photographing colored diamonds is the same as photographing colored gems.... it's very difficult. Some stones tend to photograph better than others, I find greens to be the hardest, followed by red stones.

Gene, while I think that's very true, some colored diamonds tend to color shift a lot more (in my experience) than many colored gems. Just my observation. Add fluorescence to the mix, and you really have diamonds with various personalities.

 

[platinumrock]

Kenny, I've been waiting for these pics!!! And I see that you snagged both so you didn't have to choose. Lucky duck!!

Your pics are so clear and sharp. They look like they could be vendor photos. The blue diamond reminds me of a sapphire.

But that green....

Now I know what a natural pure intense green looks like in real life (as opposed to vendor photos), and it's so cool to be able to see the indented naturals.

Please post more pics of your stones. I'd especially love to see more pics of Kenny Green in sunlight and incandescent light. Also, can you post them next to your Octavia so we can get a scale of the size?

Congrats on such rare and beautiful stones. FCD's definitely need to be seen in person to be appreciated. They are so fickle in their personalities!

 

[Burberrygirl]

Kenny, they are absolutely fabulous!

I hope you post more pictures.

 

[chrono]

I wonder if the off centered culet is to save as much weight as possible while still maintaining a nice looking FCD? In any case, those are fantastic pictures (better than what most of us can wish to accomplish) and those are some fine looking FCDs.