More fire out of pool?

[nclrgirl]

I''ve been spending a lot of time in the pool this summer, and I noticed that my diamond shows much more fire (colored flashes) after I get out of the pool (and before I wash off the chlorine). Does anyone know why this might be?

Thanks!

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Water changes the reflection of light off the diamond, this has nothing to do with the chlorine.
I would suggest go to get your diamond professionally cleaned or read the diamond cleaning thread(s) here.

 

[oldminer]

The droplets of pool water also can created "fire" by breaking up white light to spectral colors. Maybe some of this water on your diamond is serving to enhance the amount of fire in your lighting scenario.

 

[glitterata]

If your ring is made of gold rather than platinum, you probably shouldn''t wear it in the pool. Chlorine can affect the metal and make the prongs brittle.

 

[nclrgirl]

CCL and oldminer, thank you both so much for your replies!

I agree that if my diamond were wet when I was seeing this phenomenon it would have a visual impact since the index of refraction of air and water are different. However, I'm seeing the increase in fire after I get out of the pool and dry off my ring. Then, when I clean my ring and dry the ring again, this effect goes away.

I'm thinking that the chlorine forms a thin film on the outside of the diamond, which would cause interference in how light is reflected similar to the 'rainbow' effect seen in oil spilled on the road or on your driveway. Any optics people out there??

ETA: I did not make it clear that my ring was dry in my original post!

 

[nclrgirl]

glitterata, thanks for the heads up on gold in chlorine. My ring is platinum, so I'm safe, but I'll definitely keep this in mind for all of my gold jewelry!