Why are diamonds sparkly with inner rainbows while other precious and semiprecious stones have different colors? How does color affect the price of a stone and its desirability? Color can be a natural occurrence from geological forces as in when heat within the earth creates a deeper shade of purple in amethyst. Color can also be affected by minute particulates within the stone that can give it a different hue. This is true with pink and blue diamonds, which are highly prized and found only in certain areas around the world. It can also be true for cheap diamonds that don’t have as good a color as higher quality diamonds. Color is one of The 4 C’s of diamonds, and also pays a key role in how other stones are graded by independent appraisers.
It may be surprising to know, but when a precious or semiprecious stone is first mined or found in the ground, it may look quite different than when it is finally polished or cut. Diamonds don’t have that nice sparkly look when they are first mined. It takes a lot of time and effort to get a rough diamond into the shape and quality that you expect at your local jewelry store. The cut of a diamond can also affect the quality and sparkly effect. The more easily light is dispersed and reflected through the diamond, the better it will shine.
How Light Travels Through Gem Stones
The nature of ambient daylight is that it is a combination of many different light frequencies and colors, which ultimately make it, look white. The color that you see on anything, including gem stones, is a function of which frequencies of light are being absorbed, which are being reflected, and which pass right through the material. So, a stone that absorbs most of the colors in the spectrum except red will look red to us. This is the color that gets reflected back to our eyes.
Sometimes the material is the same in a gem stone but they are called two different names as in the case of rubies and sapphires. Both of these precious gem stones are made of corundum, yet one reflects red and the other reflects all blues and other colors. This can be due to the impurities that are helping to absorb different parts of the spectrum.
In the case of diamonds, blue diamonds contain boron particles and pink diamonds contain nitrogen impurities. While the presence of any impurity may make you think the diamond is worth less than a “pure” diamond, the fact is that it is very rare to get just the right natural conditions to create a blue or a pink diamond. Thus, due to their scarcity and visual appeal, these diamonds are worth considerably more than the white diamonds.
How Color Affects Values
There are occasions with a color difference can affect the value of a diamond, as in when they are brown or poor shades of yellow. It also depends on the shade of the color as canary yellow diamonds are highly sought after and can bring a good market value. There are also times when you might find a “blue-white” diamond that is not a highly prized diamond because the color is being affected by fluorescence.
Fluorescence is a quality of some diamonds to fluoresce under ultraviolet light, making it appear bluer and sparkly than normal. The problem is that when the diamond is not under ultraviolet light (as in most jewelry store cases), it can look cloudy and dead. So, if anyone sells you a diamond that appears bluish, make sure you get a grading report to see if it is a fluorescent diamond. There is nothing wrong with getting cheap diamonds that fluoresce to make them appear to be of higher quality under ultraviolet light, but you should not pay a higher price for them. The fluorescence is not a color attribute and is generally not desirable as a good quality diamond.
Other Considerations for Great Color
Generally, the deeper a prized hue, the more it will cost, whether you are looking at amethyst, rubies, or fancy-colored diamonds. It should also be a stone that is free of inclusions and fractures. The bigger a large well-colored stone, the more it will also cost.
Try to check out the hue of any gemstone in natural lighting. Ultraviolet lighting has a way of distorting the actual color and hue of some gemstones. The hue of a gem stone can also be affected by the setting and cut. This is because the setting will affect how much light is absorbed and reflected from the gem stone, once it is set. The cut can also affect how the stone reflects light. That’s why a diamond solitaire setting, even for cheap diamonds, is the best setting to use for a diamond. It delivers the maximum amount of light to the gem’s surface and can enhance the color and sparkle of your diamond.
Some of the more modern settings, like a bezel setting, completely surround a gemstone with metal. It makes it a very smooth and modern look. It also limits the amount of light the stone might receive and can affect the color and translucence of the gem stone. It doesn’t keep this type of setting from being popular, but you do have to take these things into account.
The cut can also affect how much light the diamond disperses. Older cuts, you will find, tended to be flatter and didn’t have enough depth to really bring out a lot of sparkle. As technology has improved, the ability to cut diamonds into more ideal cuts has dramatically improved the visual aesthetics of the gem stone. There are a few diamond dealers now that cut to such perfect proportions that these “ideal cuts” are said to bring out the maximum sparkle effect possible with the diamond. Hopefully, understanding some of the mechanics of light and color can help you choose jewelry that best fits in with your lifestyle and yet offers you the depth of color and variety that you want in your fine jewelry.
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