Loose diamond on tile floor - oops! Crack likely?

[californiamom]

This may sound like a math question, but it''s not.

I''m sure that anything is possible in this scenario, but I was wondering what are the chances that an almost 2 carat diamond will have a crack/chip in it if it makes a three foot drop from a table to a tile floor?

Purchased a once-in-a-lifetime diamond and the diamond just accidentally flew out of the paper onto a tile floor. My heart sank....the jeweler (whom we have trusted for years) checked it and says it is fine. Diamonds are hard, but are they that hard?

I know I''m getting obsessive about it, but what are the odds that a diamond could have something "develop" in it down the road?

I suppose that the diamond could have dropped when it was cut, transported, who knows. What I didn''t see wouldn''t have bothered me, but I''m curious. Please advise. Thanks.

 

[valeria101]

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[Richard Sherwood]

It would take a lot more than a drop on a tile floor to crack, chip or shatter a diamond.

They're harder than they are tough, but they're plenty tough. If you get one caught in a garbage disposal, you're gonna have problems, or if you catch it in a file cabinet drawer when you're slamming it shut, maybe, but a three foot drop on a tile floor, not very likely.

Maybe if you took a hammer to it while it's on the floor...

 

[diamondsbylauren]

It would be virually impossible to damage a loose diamond by dropping it from a sitting, or even standing position on a tile floor.
For those who have never seen a cutting wheel, the diamond is exposed to amazing stresses during the polishing ( cutting) process.
It's easier to damage a mounted diamond- but even then, simply dropping it would be unlikely to cause a chip.

RICH- the gaqrbage disposal analogy will give me nightmares- thanks a lot!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I once did a salvage value appraisal for an insurance company on a 2 carat diamond that had fought it out with a garbage disposal.

It wasn't a pretty sight. Both opponents took a real beating.

Even so, we were able to salvage a 1 carat from the damaged 2 carat diamond after recutting. It was a high quality stone, and the insurance company was thrilled to recoup a fair amount of their expenditure. It was found money for them, as they assumed the multi-chipped 2 carat was totaled and worthless.