Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable?

[lostmessage]

I have someone who is offering a 2.24 carat diamond which isn't certified- he's a friend and wouldn't mind getting it certified, but its a round diamond. He THINKS its around an L color but other then that the diamond looks great(cut looks good and so does clarity).

He is offering it at 12k with setting but here's the one thing- he showed it to a friend of his who pointed out that there was orange on the outer part of the diamond which was bringing in a lot of that color, and the diamond can be shaved down to lose some size(he guessed .15) but really increase the color. Does that sound realistic at all?

 

[ame]

Re: Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable

Orange? Like on the girdle? Or is it reflecting that?

 

[Tom Gelb]

Re: Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable

Hello,

It is very difficult to say what this may be. It could even be a piece of dirt. But I thought it valuable to mention that on occasion fractures (what are called feathers in the diamond grading community) can have an orange tint within them. I believe that this is caused by iron oxide (rust) that gets trapped in the feather. If this indeed is what is occurring in this stone then polishing out the feather would remove to orange tint from the fracture and possibly the stone also. This is a best case scenario. It is very difficult to know what the actual color of the diamond may be if there is some orange material affecting it. The underlying color may be just as low as it currently looks, it may even be brown. Might I suggest taking the stone to a professional appraiser and getting their opinion?

Good luck,

Tom

 

[Gypsy]

Re: Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable

Send it to an independent appraiser like Neil Beaty http://www.gemlab.us/ and have him look at the actual diamond, unmount it and tell you A) what it is worth and what the color and clarity really are and B) what the heck the orange stuff is.

ETA: You typically don't go about shaving off bits of diamonds. It's more complicated than that. You have to maintain the balance of the facets. Your friend has no clue what he is talking about.

 

[yssie]

Re: Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable

Hello,

It is very difficult to say what this may be. It could even be a piece of dirt. But I thought it valuable to mention that on occasion fractures (what are called feathers in the diamond grading community) can have an orange tint within them. I believe that this is caused by iron oxide (rust) that gets trapped in the feather. If this indeed is what is occurring in this stone then polishing out the feather would remove to orange tint from the fracture and possibly the stone also. This is a best case scenario. It is very difficult to know what the actual color of the diamond may be if there is some orange material affecting it. The underlying color may be just as low as it currently looks, it may even be brown. Might I suggest taking the stone to a professional appraiser and getting their opinion?

Good luck,

Tom

Interesting! If rust is trapped in the feather it must have a surface breach, so wouldn't bleaching it also solve the problem and avoid the recut?

 

[Tom Gelb]

Re: Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable

Hi Yssie,

Yes, you would think so, but this seems to not always work. I guess the surface opening is too fine? It is strange that something could get in once and not again, but we may be talking about geological time frames here, versus a pressure or overnight acid boil. Sorry to not have a definitive answer for you, but that is gemology.

Take care,

Tom

 

[lostmessage]

Re: Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable

Thanks! I know this is totally speculative but how much could something like that impact the color grade? If its an L right now, what is the best case scenario with something like that?

 

[Gypsy]

Re: Diamond has tiny piece of orange on the outside- fixable

You. Need. An. Appraiser.

Okay?