Date: 2/21/2009 3:55:11 PM
Author: zeiss
Unless they have odd lighting setup at SPECIFIC locations inside the store, I really don''t understand why our diamond would turn almost completely dark.
Would I be able to reproduce their lighting setup at home??
Zeiss
I am not a diamond expert, but deal much with lighting, so will try and shed a little light on the subject (OK, bad pun)
Some general lighting principles would explain much of this (and the Home Depot Effect
). HD probably lights their stores with bulbs in the 3500K color temperature range. This color of bulbs accentuates red and orange tones, so will make their corporate color stand out. Just a guess, but this probably also enhances the fire of a diamond, since you have more red color going into the stones, so more is broken down and reflected out. If you get up above 4100K color temperature, reds are muted and blue tones enhanced. A lot of office environments use this type of lighting, as it produces what most people would describe as a "clean, white light". If you get very high on the scale--5600K and above, you are in "daylight" range, which can be harsh to the eyes if not diffused.
Again a guess, but in a jewelry showroom, you have a lot of high intensity light inside cases to make the store''s stones "pop", so the majority of the light hitting the stone on your hand is coming from the bottom in the form of reflected light. An ideal cut diamond is designed to break down and reflect light from above. What you end up with is viewing the stone with less incoming downward light against a brighter background, so it appears darker than its surroundings, especially if it is mounted and/or being worn, which will block most of the available light source from the cases. If you want to replicate this effect at home, try using multiple very bright bulbs reflecting off of carpet or a counter covered with cloth with low wattage bulbs in any overhead fixtures (use directional fixtures, such as desk or reading lamps)and your stone held above the lamps. I would suggest 3500K bulbs (most incandescent bulbs are in the 2000-2700 range, so you would have to use halogen or maybe fluorescent).
If the dominant light source is above an ideal cut stone, you will never get it to turn dark, because it will reflect most of that light back out the top, no matter what type of lighting you use.
Kind of long winded, hope no one went
.
