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| What are color-enhanced
(colored) diamonds? |
| Color enhanced (colored) diamonds are real, not synthetic
diamonds. Typically, these diamonds are nearly colorless in
their raw state but subsequently undergo a color-enhancement
process involving irradiation to attain brilliant colors. |
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| Why color-enhance
a perfectly good diamond? |
| Not all diamonds are white (meaning here, perfectly colorless).
Some are nearly colorless – that is, containing faint
colorations that can make them less valuable on the market.
These diamonds are enhanced to increase their value, while fulfilling
a market preference for color. When diamonds’ trademark
brilliance is combined with color, the result can be electrifying
– creating a highly desirable and unique gemstone. |
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| Are diamonds
colored to hide flaws? |
| No – and this is what makes color-enhancement of diamonds
different from treatments of other stones. In fact, any existing
inclusions or flaws become more, not less, visible after enhancement.
For example, an inclusion in a blue-enhanced diamond, such as
a feather, becomes more easily visible against a background
color. |
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| Is the color
‘added’ to diamonds? |
| No - the color is not actually added. It emerges through the
activation of the diamond’s own color center through irradiation
- and it’s not something that’s artificially introduced
into the diamond, like paint, oil or chemicals. |
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| How does color
enhancement work? |
| First step is irradiation. That process rearranges the diamond’s
atomic structure in a way that activates its ‘color center.’
Then, the diamond is heated at high temperatures, or annealed.
Together, this process can induce the diamond to give off brilliant
colors. See The Process
for details. |
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| What makes Lotus
successful in color enhancement? |
| Selecting the right group of diamonds for a particular
color is the hardest part of the process. The key is deciding
which stones are best suited for which color – and which
are most economical to use while achieving the desired quality.
This where Lotus’s
long experience and insight – as well as our ongoing
research – has translated into producing stones with
maximum knowledge and efficiency. We assort diamonds carefully
before the process, and grade them systematically afterwards,
thus ensuring minimal rejection and consistent supply. Click
here to find out why
you should buy from us?
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| Are Lotus colored
diamonds safe? |
| Absolutely. We do all our color enhancement using strict
US safety standards. We also distribute only the diamonds
we enhance ourselves, and we never buy colored diamonds from
outside sources. See Safety
for details. |
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| Are all colored
diamonds safe? |
| They’re safe so long as their manufacturers follow proper
safety procedures. But unless you know this for a fact, you
should be cautious. Previously a group of improperly irradiated
and illegally produced cat’s eye stones were found to
contain unsafe levels of radiation. This cautionary tale does
not discredit the process of irradiation, but illustrates how
important it is to get irradiated products only from legitimate
sources. |
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| How can I check
if my colored diamonds are safe? |
| If you’re in the jewelry trade, you should always have
a Geiger counter on hand to check not only colored diamonds
but other gemstones as well. In addition, most certified labs
will test your gemstones for a small fee. |
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| Is the color
permanent? |
| Yes. The color won’t fade over time, and colored diamonds
can be handled like any other diamonds. The only thing that
can affect the color is extreme heat (450? C/900? F or above)
– and even then any negative effects can be avoided with
proper care. |
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| Are other
gemstones color enhanced or otherwise treated? |
| Yes, plenty of precious gems from pearls to sapphires are
sometimes enhanced or treated – but not always the same
way, or for the same reason. For details, see Other Gemstone
Treatments. |
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| What are natural
color diamonds? |
| As their name suggests, natural color diamonds had their colors
created by Mother Nature. They have not undergone color-enhancement
in a lab. These gems are rare and like the famous blue Hope
Diamond, are often highly prized – with a price tag to
match. |
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| Can I tell
the difference between natural color and color-enhanced (colored)diamonds? |
| Not by just looking at them. Only a trained gemologist can
differentiate between natural color and color enhanced diamonds,
using a spectroscope to determine the origin of the color. See
details here. |
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| Why should
I buy colored diamonds? |
| Lots of good reasons. They are unique, affordable and stylish
– and now consistently available in great varieties of
colors, shapes and sizes. See details here. |
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| Are colored
diamonds a new phenomenon? |
| Although the process of color enhancement was discovered in
1904, it was not until the 1950s that colored diamonds were
made in commercial quantities, and not until the 1990s that
they became prominent and widely accepted in the jewelry market. |
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| What factors
determine the price of colored diamonds? |
| The prices are determined by a variation on the Four C’s:
carat, clarity, color, and cut – the standard way to determine
the price in white diamonds. See Determining the Price for details.
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| Are colored
diamonds cheaper than white diamonds? |
| If the diamonds’ clarity is similar, most colored diamonds
have prices slightly lower than white diamonds. However, enhanced
black diamonds are very inexpensive than white diamonds –
while enhanced pinks and purples are more expensive than whites. |
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| What accounts
for the price differences between certain colors? |
| Enhanced black diamonds are relatively inexpensive because
black is the easiest color to produce, and you can use any decent-clarity
diamond as their base. On the other hand, enhanced pinks and
purples sell for much more because they are the hardest to produce
consistently in commercial quantities, and it is very difficult
to predict which base stones will emerge in those colors. See
Determining the Price for details. |
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| What are some
other names for color enhanced diamonds? |
| The term color enhanced diamonds can also be hyphenated as
color-enhanced diamonds. Synonyms include colored diamonds,
enhanced diamonds, irradiated diamonds and treated diamonds.
We do not like to use the term treated diamonds since it implies
that the diamonds were somehow defective at origin. We also
avoid irradiated diamonds because while correct, the term can
be misunderstood to imply that the stones are radioactive or
otherwise unsafe. |
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| How can I clean
my colored diamonds? |
| Colored diamonds can be cleaned like other diamonds - in ultrasonic,
and using boiling acids. See details here. |
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| How can I set
my colored diamonds? |
| Colored diamonds can be channel set, invisible set, bezel
set, flush set and pave set. However, they cannot be wax set,
since that process involves high temperatures. |
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