diamonds shoot rainbows?

[vsparkle]

So what is the definitive answer on this one? I'm new to diamond research and am in the market to buy a 2 carat round. I'm reading a TON and learning so much but haven't been able to figure out if diamonds are supposed to shoot rainbows in the light. I've heard differing things...some saying only CZs shoot rainbows and others testifying that their natural diamond shoots beautiful rainbows (sitting at a signal with the sun coming the the car, for example.) So which is it?

I secretly hope they do! I personally would love to have rainbows on my finger!

 

[denverappraiser]

Those rainbows are called 'spectra' and yes, diamonds can produce them. Actually any gem, including glass, will produce them under the right circumstances. It's the prismatic effect of breaking the light up into it's component parts. In the most common diamond lingo, this get's called 'fire'.

 

[stone-cold11]

CZ just has slightly better dispersion properties than diamonds. Cut properly to the correct angles for the dispersion, any transparent crystal will split white light into resultant visible light component.

 

[marcy]

Yes and they are so cool! It's my major source of entertainment when I am riding in a car.

 

[chicam]

If CZ performs better than diamonds and are much cheaper, why the diamond craze then. I have always wondered. Is it that it's harder?

 

[mrs jam]

If CZ performs better than diamonds and are much cheaper, why the diamond craze then. I have always wondered. Is it that it's harder?

I'm sure a diamond is harder than a cz, but for me, it's more of a psychological thing than an issue of durability. I have a pair of high-quality cz studs set in white gold that are truly beautiful, and they make me very happy. But I don't think I could wear a cz ring, even if the setting was high quality. Same reason that I can't carry a designer imitation handbag. I just like the "feel" of the real thing, if that makes any sense.

I wish I could be as satisfied with a cz ring as I am with my studs; it would definitely be more cost-effective! A neighbor of mine has a gorgeous engraved platinum solitaire that used to be set with a 2+ carat diamond but is now set with a cz. She is a self-confessed "bull in a china shop." She chipped the diamond that was originally in the setting. She chipped the replacement diamond less than a year after that, so now she refuses to wear diamonds on her hands. Ironically, I don't think she has yet chipped the cz.

 

[stone-cold11]

CZ is not better, just more dispersion, smaller refractive index, need to be cut differently and may not get the same patterning/performance if you just cut it to the proportions of a well cut diamond. It is also much softer, scratches much easier, making it look 'dirty' that cannot be clean. For everyday wear, you want a gemstone with at least a 8.5 on the Mohr's scale, CZ is only an 8, Diamond is 10. Moissanite is a much better colorless gemstone.

Diamond craze is also due to great publicity and it is a natural. :p

CZ and Moissanite are both man-made. Gem quality CZ and Moissanite in nature is non-existent.

 

[hoofbeats95]

Yes and they are so cool! It's my major source of entertainment when I am riding in a car.

Mine too!

 

[denverappraiser]

If CZ performs better than diamonds and are much cheaper, why the diamond craze then. I have always wondered. Is it that it's harder?

Men by diamonds because women want them. Women want them becasue of tradition and becasue they're terribly cool little things. It has nothing to do with the fact that CZ's or anything else can also be cool. I don't think it's correct to say that CZ's perform better and most diamonds actually have better fire than most CZ's but it has more to do with the cutting than with the material. I suppose this depends a bit on what you're looking for. Diamonds are decidedly more durable and one of the complaints with CZ is that you need to replace them periodically if you wear them regularly. As you point out, they're cheap enough that this can be done many many times before the price catches up bit it can be inconvenient. Are diamonds 'better'? I think so, but you're thoughts may be different and neither answer is wrong. Are they worth the price? An awful lot of customers seem to think they are and demand continues to rise along with the prices but, again, your results may vary. They may not be better for YOU.

 

[antelope1]

I am no expert, but I do really like chunky fire. Not only at stoplights, but I can sit in the window seat of a plane (say a plane with 3 seats on either side of the aisle) and do a disco ball effect on the overhead compartments on the far side of the aisle.