Taylorbug!
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Would you buy a clarity enhanced diamond?
- Thread starter Taylorbug!
- Start date
L
Lula
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No, I wouldn''t.
I would rather wear my lower clarity stone (eyeclean to me) and know that its appearance is honest. The idea of clarity enhancement, to me, is just not "mind clean."
I also would recommend that you do an internet search on them to see exactly what goes into the process, what to look for when you''re buying one, etc., so that if you do decide to buy one, you know what you''re buying. If a customer is educated about them and decides to buy one, I have no qualms about them purchasing one -- just know what you are and are not getting.
I would rather wear my lower clarity stone (eyeclean to me) and know that its appearance is honest. The idea of clarity enhancement, to me, is just not "mind clean."
I also would recommend that you do an internet search on them to see exactly what goes into the process, what to look for when you''re buying one, etc., so that if you do decide to buy one, you know what you''re buying. If a customer is educated about them and decides to buy one, I have no qualms about them purchasing one -- just know what you are and are not getting.
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geckodani
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Upgradable
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The only situation I can imagine purchasing a clarity enhanced stone is if it was an amazing vintage cut (or other one-of-a kind) stone that stole my heart, but had on localized goober that could be treated.
I remember Wink Jones posting a video of a stone he had treated and the before and after were amazing.
I remember Wink Jones posting a video of a stone he had treated and the before and after were amazing.
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There are three major types of diamond clarity enhancements.
The most common, generally undetected and widely accepted enhancement is soaking diamonds in acid to remove or whiten black surface reaching inclusions. Sometimes this leaves an open pit in the stone if the inclusion melts away in the acid. It can greatly improve how a diamond looks and has no effect on value.
The second is laser drilling into the stone to allow acid to be soaked in to whiten otherwise blackish inclusions. Many vendors refuse to stock these stones, but I think there are times where such a treatment improves how the diamond looks without making it less durable. It is a relatively inexpensive and permanent treatment. It used to be easy to detect and now is more difficult to detect as the lasering now is smaller diameter than in early times and is engineered to look nearly natural in appearance. Diamonds which are laser drilled do sell at a discount from similar quality non-laser drilled diamonds. Of course, consumers cannot count on being asked the right price. Dealers know how to haggle about treatments they detect, but consumers know mostly what they are being told unless the lasering is mentioned in a lab report.
The more problematic and more dramatic enhancement is glass in-filling of surface reaching inclusions. This makes inclusions seemingly disappear, but they are still there and if the diamond was fragile due to these inclusions, the diamond remains fragile. Also, this filling will degrade with long term exposure to UV light and while it normally can be removed and replaced it would be very upsetting to see your diamond slowly go from beautiful to visibly imperfect over time. This treatment is normally detectable by most dealers, gemologists and appraisers. However, the clarity of the enhanced diamond is often greatly exaggerated by sellers who claim the clarity is as good as it looks with the enhancement in place and don't mention how much lower the clarity actually is without the enhancement. Ebay is loaded with this kind of misgraded stone. This enhancement does nothing to increase the value of a diamond, but it does allow some quite imperfect diamonds to look very nice. It may help get them sold. This treatment is acceptable, in my opinion, for diamonds which don't get hard use in rings or bracelets. Maybe earrings, pendants, and pins would be best for these diamonds since many are less durable than unenhanced ones. Many, or even most, jewelers and dealers refuse to sell such diamonds, but there are niche sellers who push these as perfectly safe products with and without proper disclosure. It isn't such a bad thing if you are completely aware of the enhancement and understand the implications. Very, very few consumers are made completely aware and it is a very problematic situation for all concerned.
The most common, generally undetected and widely accepted enhancement is soaking diamonds in acid to remove or whiten black surface reaching inclusions. Sometimes this leaves an open pit in the stone if the inclusion melts away in the acid. It can greatly improve how a diamond looks and has no effect on value.
The second is laser drilling into the stone to allow acid to be soaked in to whiten otherwise blackish inclusions. Many vendors refuse to stock these stones, but I think there are times where such a treatment improves how the diamond looks without making it less durable. It is a relatively inexpensive and permanent treatment. It used to be easy to detect and now is more difficult to detect as the lasering now is smaller diameter than in early times and is engineered to look nearly natural in appearance. Diamonds which are laser drilled do sell at a discount from similar quality non-laser drilled diamonds. Of course, consumers cannot count on being asked the right price. Dealers know how to haggle about treatments they detect, but consumers know mostly what they are being told unless the lasering is mentioned in a lab report.
The more problematic and more dramatic enhancement is glass in-filling of surface reaching inclusions. This makes inclusions seemingly disappear, but they are still there and if the diamond was fragile due to these inclusions, the diamond remains fragile. Also, this filling will degrade with long term exposure to UV light and while it normally can be removed and replaced it would be very upsetting to see your diamond slowly go from beautiful to visibly imperfect over time. This treatment is normally detectable by most dealers, gemologists and appraisers. However, the clarity of the enhanced diamond is often greatly exaggerated by sellers who claim the clarity is as good as it looks with the enhancement in place and don't mention how much lower the clarity actually is without the enhancement. Ebay is loaded with this kind of misgraded stone. This enhancement does nothing to increase the value of a diamond, but it does allow some quite imperfect diamonds to look very nice. It may help get them sold. This treatment is acceptable, in my opinion, for diamonds which don't get hard use in rings or bracelets. Maybe earrings, pendants, and pins would be best for these diamonds since many are less durable than unenhanced ones. Many, or even most, jewelers and dealers refuse to sell such diamonds, but there are niche sellers who push these as perfectly safe products with and without proper disclosure. It isn't such a bad thing if you are completely aware of the enhancement and understand the implications. Very, very few consumers are made completely aware and it is a very problematic situation for all concerned.
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My sister was given one by her ex-husband.
She did not know it, of course, until they broke up and she went to try to sell the ring and found it was not so valuable as it looked.
She was upset--but had been upset by him already. He was a lot of flash and front.
Some couples would be in on this together. That is, the woman knowing that her gigantic ring had not cost very much and enjoying the compliments on it, while saving the money to spend on something else.
It''s a certain personality type. I don''t see the difference between these people and the ones who have giant moissanite or Asha or other sim engagement rings that they are passing off as real to impress co-workers or family or whoever they are trying to impress. I''m not against sims per se--I''ve worn them before but always smaller ones (the bigger they are the worse they look) and I always tell people that they aren''t real. That''s just me. But there are people who must look as though they own things that they can''t actually afford and fracture filled goes for this market. I''m sure you don''t see small fracture-filled rings very much--just as you see less and less smaller czs.
She did not know it, of course, until they broke up and she went to try to sell the ring and found it was not so valuable as it looked.
She was upset--but had been upset by him already. He was a lot of flash and front.
Some couples would be in on this together. That is, the woman knowing that her gigantic ring had not cost very much and enjoying the compliments on it, while saving the money to spend on something else.
It''s a certain personality type. I don''t see the difference between these people and the ones who have giant moissanite or Asha or other sim engagement rings that they are passing off as real to impress co-workers or family or whoever they are trying to impress. I''m not against sims per se--I''ve worn them before but always smaller ones (the bigger they are the worse they look) and I always tell people that they aren''t real. That''s just me. But there are people who must look as though they own things that they can''t actually afford and fracture filled goes for this market. I''m sure you don''t see small fracture-filled rings very much--just as you see less and less smaller czs.
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For earrings or a pendant, yes I would. I did have a CE (fractured filled) diamond e-ring, which cracked after a run in with a metal filing cabinet. I don''t know if being a CE stone made it more prone to cracking or not, but I''d just be too scared to wear one on my hand again. That stone is now in a pendant.
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Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings
Past, Present, Future: The Meaning of Three-Stone Engagement Rings - 04/14
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