Flouresence Q''s

[jenpm78]

Hello. I recently found out my ring is flourescent (family stone, this was not included on original appraisal). It must be pretty strongly flourescent as a jeweler in a store took one look at it and knew.

I googled the subject and found some conflicting information about whether it''s good or bad. Any input? My stone looks VERY white.

.90
H color
VS2
ideal cut
(can''t remember the rest of the specs)

Thank you.

 

[Magnum]

As long as the stone doesn't appear cloud/milky, which it doesn't sound like it, then it's not a bad thing. A small percentage of stones that have flouresence show any negative effects, and the flouresence is usually, strong/very strong/extremly strong in these cases. It doesn't necessarily have to be strong flouresence if the dealer noticed it. Medium flouresence should be easily identified in the proper lighting. As far as flouresence being good or bad in general, GIA did a study and I think the results were that a slight majority actually prefered the stones that had flouresence. In certain lighting, it can help an H color stone appear whiter, and some people like the way it makes the stone look in sunlight. The one "downside" is that there is a bias against flouresence in the diamond business (they are usually discounted slightly in higher colors), but it sounds like this is your personal stone, and if you're not planning on selling it anytime soon, it doesn't really matter. Several years ago, flouresence was actually prefered, so who knows, it could come back into favor again in the future.

 

[jenpm78]

Thank you very much, Magnum.

It looks very white and very clear under most lighting conditions.

Under VERY strong sunlight, it looks a bit blue and a bit hazy.

Will it be important for me to get flourescent stones in my wedding band in order for it to look like it matches (they are very tiny round stones, VS2, H color)?

Thank you.

 

[glitterata]

Very cool! I wish my center stone was fluorescent.

One of the little pave side stones in my ring is strongly fl. I found out by wearing it to a nightclub--otherwise I'd never have known. I think you'd be fine just getting stones that match the cut and color.

 

[fire&ice]

My mantra: "I wouldn't buy a stone w/o Blue Fluor." It's a cool effect. And, directly in sunlight the purplish hue is what is to be expected. Can't comment about the hazy as direct sunlight makes most stones look confused.

What size are you going to use for your wedding band. If you are using small melees, then an H should match. It would be difficult to get all the melees to have the same fluor. To be safe, you may want to go with f/g melees.

 

[Magnum]

No problem. I don't think it's necessary to match the small stones in your wedding band, as far as flouresence is concerned. But that's up to your personal preference. As far as the appearance in strong sun light, that slight blue appearance is what I've heard people say they like, but both of the stones I've purchased don't have flouresence, so I can't comment from personal experience. (I would think that it would look cool, though, and for a while I was looking for a medium blue flourescent stone.) As far as looking a bit hazy, I could be wrong about this, but I've looked at both stones I've purchased (without flouresence), and in very strong sunlight they don't look as clear as they do in normal light, but I'm not sure if I'd call it hazy. I think it might be an "optical illusion" since the light is so strong being returned to your eye, it makes it hard to look deep into the stone like you can in normal lighting, but I'm not sure about that.

 

[jenpm78]

Magnum, yeah, I don't know if hazy is the right word either. In strong sunlight, it's slightly blue, and kind of hard to look at. I can't totally describe it.

I'm glad to hear from people who prefer the blue effect. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a sort of flaw and was a little upset. But I do like the effect, and I think it somehow makes my stone look whiter in all normal lighting.

 

[jenpm78]

What are small melees?

The band I picked out has tiny, bead set round diamonds and horizontally set marquise cut emeralds. Kind of like this:

o<>o<>o<>o

 

[fire&ice]

melee are diamonds under 20 pts. It sounds like that is what they are. I don't think I'd worry about matching. And, why don't you see if they are a good match w/ your e-ring.

As I said, most well cut stones look blinding & confusing in direct sunlight - add the blue fluor & I bet that baby looks like someone plugged it in.

Strong blue fluor diamonds used to be prized as "blue whites". The term got bantered about. Many stones that were not colorless was sold as colorless with the effect of blue fluor. The trade got there hands slapped by the FTC. A scandle ensued & hence the reason the trade shys away from them at this point. I don't think I would call it a flaw. It can be a headache for dealers. It's just something they have to explain.

Enjoy it! The fluor could make your stone face up whiter than an H.