Will a blue fluoresence make stone look whiter?

[informer]

I''ve been doing some reading and im a lil confused on the role of fluoresence. If placed in Plt or 18K WG, will the blue make an H or I stone (or even K) appear whiter?

does this occur only when sparkling or is there a noticible differnce with minimal light?

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 6/1/2005 10:37:38 AM
Author:informer
I''ve been doing some reading and im a lil confused on the role of fluoresence. If placed in Plt or 18K WG, will the blue make an H or I stone (or even K) appear whiter?

does this occur only when sparkling or is there a noticible differnce with minimal light?

Face up - quite possibly in the medium to strong blue.

 

[belle]

fluorescence doesn''t have a ''role'' it is a naturally occuring phenomenon in some diamonds. it is possible that the side effect of strong blue fluoroescnce, could offset the slight yellow color and make the stone appear ''whiter'', but that is not always true. the only guarantee you''ll get with fluorescence, is that your diamond will glow under blacklight conditions.

 

[aljdewey]

Typically, yes, the presence of blue fluor will help neutralize any tint. You won''t *see* the blue....it will look like any other diamond. But it usually helps neutralize body color.

 

[boo]

A jeweller we visited recently explained that a blue fluorescence may make the diamond appear cloudy and less sparkly, I''m not sure if that''s accurate.

 

[mrssalvo]

Your jeweler was right it MAY make a stone look cloudy or milky. It's a stone by stone thing. Many people including me actually prefer it and wouldn't buy a stone w/out it. If your up for a little reading here is a great thread that provides a lot of info link

 

[Sunni79]

Date: 6/1/2005 11:51:02 AM
Author: boo
A jeweller we visited recently explained that a blue fluorescence may make the diamond appear cloudy and less sparkly, I''m not sure if that''s accurate.

I would think this could occur in colorless diamonds.

 

[Nicrez]

Fluorescence in diamonds is actually seen best in UV light, as others have stated. The reason it looks a bit different in daylight, is because daylight actually has a small component which is UV light. That UV light component causes the reaction of the fluorescence to show, even if it is to a smaller amount than under direct UV light. This chalky blue glow in the stone tends to show lighter, as a chalky color and the blue is really only seen lightly under UV light, generally. That is what the whiteness (chalkyness) is seen in daylight, masking the stone's yellowish body color.

If fluorescence is very strong, it may cause more than a slight white chalkiness, and look MILKY. A stone that is milky is usually VERY strong in fluorescence under UV light alone. Makes sense right?

Note: Some stones (rare) have different colors of fluorescence. I saw a diamond with strong yellow FL, and that was a unique looking stone. A very large majority have blue though, and GIA has estimated that about 35%+ of stones have slight to strong fluorescence under UV light.

Colors like G-J+ tend to cost more with fl, due to this unique "whitening" effect being faorable for buyer, BUT colorless stones above D-F are actually discounted when they have FL, because at that point the chance of being whiter is not favorable, it may cause more likely cloudiness at the V. Strong to possible Strong Fl levels.

 

[cflutist]

Nicrez, thanks for the explanation.

 

[Nicrez]

I wish I could explain EXACTLY how FL works based on the light entering but alas, we didn''t get that far in light theory...

Anyone know the science of it??

 

[RockDoc]

To properly view fluoresence, you should have a piece of clear Lexan.

To see if there is a visual affect, hold the stone in direct sunlight observe it, then pass the lexan above the stone, and see if you notice a change. If you do, you''ll be able to see the affect in an environment that it is commonly worn in.

Grading the affect of fluoresence is a stone by stone call. Sometimes it is a benefit, sometimes it is a detriment.

Rockdoc

 

[cflutist]

Here is a picture comparing fluoresence. Both diamonds are F in color but the marquise has STRONG blue fluoresence while the pear has none. I can tell that there is a difference in the way they look outdoors but it may be difficult to tell on your computer monitor.

 

[lumpkin]

I just thought I''d drop my two cent''s worth. My pear is an M with very strong blue flourescence. I bought it from Abazias and they took some pictures of it for me before I purchased it. One of the pictures was of their colormeter''s "perception" (for lack of a better word) of the color. It showed it as a J but the GIA report says it is an M.

When I''m in sunlight or shade, the stone looks pretty nearly colorless. I''ve noticed that at the salon where there are color corrected flourescent lights, it clearly has a faint yellow tint. Comparing it side by side a colorless stone, it doesn''t "pop" like the colorless stone -- it is more subtle.

From just my own personal experience, not as an expert, it seems to hide a lot of the tint in many lighting conditions, but not all.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 6/1/2005 10:37:38 AM
Author:informer
I''ve been doing some reading and im a lil confused on the role of fluoresence. If placed in Plt or 18K WG, will the blue make an H or I stone (or even K) appear whiter?

does this occur only when sparkling or is there a noticible differnce with minimal light?

H doesn''t need any help to look colorless...

A large I color for a senzitive viewer who does care allot about colorlessness would benefit from some help.

Now, K is at quite a distance from I (the color gardes become wider and wider ranges away from D-F; J-K is as wide a range as D-G as far as I know). Strong fluorescence would make that color turn on and off literally.

Of course, fluorescence does not act all the time: you need some ultraviolet light to produce the effect. Most light sources including daylight have it, but most indoor lighting is yellowish to begin with so it would show color and then some. Diamonds change face allot depending on lighting conditions, fluorescent diamonds even more so.

The phisics of diamond fluorescence are relatively straight forward. On the web, Adamasgem posts some very good material about it.

Just my 0.2

 

[valeria101]

.

 

[joycer]

Hi informer,

Yes blue fluorescence will make a stone look whiter. Some people on this forum actually choose to buy stones with fluorescence because they are cheaper and like the idea and look of it. Provided it does not make your stone look milky, I think it is a bonus for stones colored H and higher.

If you wanted to know the science behind it, I made a post here explaining the effects from an optical point of view.

-joycer