Laser Diamonds

[Katiygem]

Hi,
Can someone please describe how lasering is done -

Some people are talking about hot or cold laser inscriptions - ?

which one is the preferred option - ?

how is it exactly done ?

 

[Katiygem]

Hi everybody,

I have been reading your forum for a while and I thought this was the perfect place to ask questions.

I see that I have not received any response to my question on lasering.

I hope its not too technical - I appreciate any help you can give me.

I do like to know a little bit on how cold or hot lasers are done... and which one is the best to have. ??

I hear that some labs prefer to do one or the other, and wether it cause damage to the diamond in any way.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi Kati. "Cold lasering" is the latest technology in laser inscription. It uses a much lower thermal energy than the "hot lasering" commonly used. The "cold lasering" proponents claim that this thermal energy is absorbed by the surface of the gemstone treated, and does not penetrate to cause "feathering".

The "feathering" they''re referring to is usually minute and usually occurs in only a very, very small amount of stones inscribed. I''ve seen only two instances of it in the last 10 years or so, and they both were from the same machine which was out of calibration.

The cool thing about "cold lasering" is that it''s safer to use on thermally sensitive colored stones like emeralds or tanzanite. With their liquid inclusions (sometimes close to the surface) they''ve not been good candidates for "hot lasering". Now a whole new area of gemstone inscription has opened up.

I would not hesitate to recommend "hot lasering" for the vast majority of diamonds. The only instance I would not is if the stone is an IF (internally flawless) or VVS1. If there were any minute feathering or over-penetration it could possibly drop the clarity grade of these ultra-high clarity stones. With anything else it wouldn''t matter, even if there were an unlikely "slip of the wrist".