Should diamond videos / pictures be on a coloured background?

[OoohShiny]

So... after struggling to work out whether a stone posted up in another thread is leaking or whether the lighting is just 'meh', it occurred to me that it would be a lot easier to identify leakage in any given diamond if pictures and videos were taken against a coloured background.

(Stone in question for reference/example: https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/1.74-ct-K-IF-Very-Good-Cut-Asscher-Diamond/D42208871#)

If a red background or other bright colour was used, that would mean that leakage in a diamond would allow said backdrop colour to show through from behind the stone. This would therefore make it much easier to identify leakage than when (yet another) white/grey/black backdrop is used (like those that are currently used) - as it stands, any background showing through due to leakage blends in with the white light return or obstruction patterns seen in a given stone, making it harder to tell which is which.

I appreciate that a coloured background or resting a stone on a coloured surface could introduce some of that colour into the stone itself, therefore potentially adding tint to it, but there would be nothing (other than time and money?) to stop both a white/grey background being used as well as a coloured background, meaning two videos/pictures to review.


Am I being crazy or does anyone else think this would be a good idea??

 

[farrahlyn]

i think it's a great idea. but like you said, i'd want to see it on a gray/white background in addition to a colored background (preferably red).

 

[Karl_K]

Yes it would be nice but you would get some reflection off the lens back into the stone giving some false negatives.
I at one time used a colored background all the time, I kept a business card covered with red and blue Mylar in my wallet for years for when I was stalking diamonds in stores.
Put it behind the diamond and leakage was clearly visible.

However it would not work if the stone was sitting on it, so the vast majority being rotary table setups it would not work.

 

[Karl_K]

For an example an EC cut setting on the p2 facet on a red platter, there would be red reflected throughout the stone that was not leakage.
It easy to demo with real stones but I haven't tried to get DC to show it.

 

[DianaM1031]

I prefer to see it on white because I am comparing across a lot of different websites and it is much easier to do that if the stones and rings are all the same color background.

 

[WinkHPD]

When Jamie takes our glamour shots she is often shooting against colored backgrounds, such as flowers and other fun backgrounds. Sometimes there are reflections of the color in the diamond, but it is very obvious that the colors are reflections and not leakage.

Personally, for the non glamour shots, I like the white background. It allows us to show the diamond for its crisp cutting without any distractions from the background.

Wink

 

[Rockdiamond]

Imagine that diamonds are like people- they come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
If you are forced to use a single setup to photograph each individual, you're sure to have some pictures that are not representative.
Diamonds are like people in this regard.
We've had all kinds of cameras. From my perspective, sites that are using a single photographic setup will make some stones look better, and others look worse than they do in real life.
Of course, trying to take individual pics of each diamond that are tailored to show it's specific beauty would take way too much time, and require too much human judgement for the VD sites ( welcome to my life