Can a diamond crack from everyday wear?

[jessesgirl]

I have had my engagement ring for 3 years, and recently noticed a crack in it. It can be felt on the surface of the stone. I took it back to the jeweler wear we purchased it, and was told that stones can crack from everyday wear and are really very fragile. Is this true? I have never heard that before. I always thought diamonds were a very strong material. Have I been ripped off??

 

[jesrush]

It's rare, but they can definitely crack and chip! In fact one of the appraisers on here used to look for "strain" in a diamond to see if it might be especially susceptible to cracking.

You might want to take it to a good appraiser (see the ones listed on the main pricescope webpage) to determine the extent of damage and to determine if the crack followed a pre-existing inclusion (like a feather) that was plotted on the diamond's certificate (assuming it had a certificate).

Can you post pictures? (Digital Camera?)

-JES

 

[Mara]

Diamonds may be the hardest on the scale, but that does not mean they cannot chip or crack. Depending on if you have inclusions and where they are located..along with a good rap to the diamond along a feather or similar..you may incur a crack or a chip. It's common also for diamonds to chip along the girdle in a very exposed setting, from everyday wear, especially if your girdle is more on the thin side. So yes it can happen, from inclusions, from everyday wear, from a good knock on the right/wrong surface at the right/wrong time.

Our appraiser told us originally that over time the diamond will take a few knocks and most likely incur some chips along the girdle...so we are prepared..esp if you wear your ring and wear it well.

I would not necessarily agree they are 'very fragile', but they are susceptible to wear and tear just like anything else. Good luck!

 

[cflutist]

There are two concepts here: hardness versus toughness

Hardness - resistance to scratching and diamonds are rated a 10 on the Mohs scale while corundum (sapphires/rubies) are a 9. This means that diamond can scratch corundum but corundum cannot scratch a diamond

Toughness - resistance to breaking, chipping, or cracking - how well a stone can survive impact from a fall or a blow. On a scale from poor, fair, good, execellent, and exceptional, diamonds rate a "good" in its cleavage directions and "exceptional" in all other directions. This is why a cutter can cleave a diamond by giving it a sharp rap along a cleavage plane.

Example: a diamonds tendency to cleave makes it much less "tough" than jade even though jade is considerably lower in hardness.