Value of opaque colored diamonds

[Cave Keeper]

I know people do pay for opaque pigeon blood red rubies for a few dollars per carat.

And they may pay much more for opaque star rubies and star sapphires.

I thought the superior brightness of diamonds lies in their ability to reflect light internally, which in turn should depend on their clarity.

How much is a 12+ ct. opaque natural, but color-enhanced, fancy vivid yellow diamond worth?

Also, how much is a 3 ct. opaque, but color-enhanced, fancy vivid green diamond worth?

 

[valeria101]

Not sure what the questions is about exactly - for once, I really do not know if anyone applies color enhancement to this kind of material. There are yellows, pinks, whites all sorts of gray and brown out there to begin with. Non-technical uses of such (opaque diamonds that is) that I know is are not many, but... interesting pieces make relatively expensive offerings for collectors of minerals (say, nicely formed but uncuttable floaters, diamond crystals in matrix or aggregates of tiny orange-yellow diamond crystals looking like sulphur! or other oddities) than beads are made (some branded: look up ''diamond pearls'' and ''diamond bullets'' if not scared at the prospect) and whites and blacks are faceted (see the ''milky diamond pave'' in the ''04 collections by Paolo Piovan and surely others). Besides, all that stuff on Ebay must be comming from somewhere, right

Seriously... why not. To each his own.

You mention that the usually coveted brilliance of the material has nothing to do with these opaque objects... but it does. No other stuff takes such high polish and it was that adamantine lustre that made diamonds famous (aside hardness) before cut got anywhere good enough to show these gems could be brilliant. That is still invoked now to market the opaque varieties (blacks included, I guess).

This is about all I know of the matter on short notice

 

[Cave Keeper]

Date: 8/31/2005 9:14:00 AM
Author: valeria101
:
I really do not know if anyone applies color enhancement to this kind of material.
:

Both the vivid yellow and the vivid green diamonds are round brilliant cuts, and are claimed by the seller to be color-enhanced.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 8/31/2005 10:55:08 AM
Author: Cave Keeper

Both the vivid yellow and the vivid green diamonds are round brilliant cuts, and are claimed by the seller to be color-enhanced.

Never came accross those... But why not, if the stuff sells, than why not. If the clear ones can be colored, why not less clear. Besides, these may result from the enhancement process anyway. Now I do understand your analogy with the inexpensive red & opaque rubies !

 

[Cave Keeper]

Date: 8/31/2005 1:06:04 PM
Author: valeria101
:
Besides, these may result from the enhancement process anyway.
:

Good point. The vivid colors are so rare, probably the fancy vivid colored ones were the resultant output of irradiating inexpensive and almost clear brown or yellow stones; perhaps the irradiation process at the temperature required to turn the stone into the desired color was overprolonged.

Still, the prices being asked for are much more than what you can try to get for heated eye clean rubies and sapphires of top color.

So what should the two stones be worth approximately (or what should constitute an acceptable counter-offer by the interested buyer)?