Diamonds you find in jewelry can sometimes be treated to enhance their color or clarity. Such diamonds have a lower value than diamonds that naturally come with intense color and high clarity. Therefore, it is important to identify these stones to avoid paying a huge amount for them. Both natural as well as artificial diamonds can be treated. However, artificial or lab grown diamonds tend to have more quality than natural diamonds. Hence, the chance for them to be treated is low when compared to natural diamonds.
How To Identify A Treated Diamond?
It can be extremely difficult to find out whether a diamond is treated or not unless you are an expert in the diamond industry. This is why it is important to get diamond grading reports. They will help to identify whether your diamond is natural, treated, or lab-grown. Therefore, getting diamonds that come with grading reports can help you to avoid paying a high amount for a treated diamond.
Treatments Used In Diamonds
Different treatments are used in diamonds based on the requirement. We list some of the common treatments that are used to enhance the look of diamonds.
Clarity Enhancement
Most diamonds can have inclusions that can deteriorate their beauty. In some cases, these inclusions may not be visible. Such diamonds have a high value. But diamonds with visible inclusions have a lower value. Hence, jewelers eliminate these inclusions to improve the value of these stones.
A technique called laser drilling is usually used to enhance the clarity of diamonds. This technique involves drilling a minute hole in the diamond to reach the site of the inclusion. Later the impurities present there will be removed by vaporizing them. The visibility of these inclusions can also be reduced by applying bleach or acid.
Laser drilling is a permanent treatment, as the hole created by it will stay in the diamond forever. Here, the jewelers use a technique called fracture filling which involves filling the hole using glass-like materials. Therefore, it can be difficult to identify whether a diamond has undergone laser drilling.
Color Enhancement
Some diamonds come in colors like yellow, brown, red, orange, blue, green, and more. Diamonds with intense colors have more value than stones with faint colors. But it is possible to enhance the color of these stones with the aid of heat treatment. This can improve the value of the stone along with increasing its price. But their value can be always lower than diamonds that come with intense colors naturally.
Therefore, it is important for you to find out whether you are getting a treated diamond when buying diamond jewelry.