Believe it or not, I’ve had quite a few folks come to me and present me with their once white diamond that has now turned a shade of yellow. Even my wife presented me with her F color marquis diamond that had taken on a pale shade of yellow.

Don’t fret. Your diamond did not simply turn color. Each and every instance of this that I have seen have all had the exact same thing in common… well water. Yep, good old fashioned well water that has a high iron content. You know, rust stains. Take your ring to your favorite jeweler and they’ll be able to place it in some “pickling” solution and then clean your diamond to remove the discoloration.

It’s also a very good idea not to wear your ring in the shower or anyplace else it can come into contact with your tap water in order to help prevent it from happening.

HPHT Diamonds are natural diamonds that have been treated using a process called HPHT, High Pressure High Temperature. HPHT mimics the processes that a diamond under goeas during it’s creation to elevate the color levels of a diamond. A light brown or yellow diamond may become near colorless using this process.

An HPHT diamond will sell for a significantly lower price than a natural diamond of a similar cut and color.

This is a permenant treatment and is required to be noted on the documents accompanying the diamond.

In recent years gem labs have been able to laser inscribe the lab report number, serial number, and many other things on the girdle of your diamond so that it can be more easily identified. This ability has been expanded recently to include personal messages and expressions of love.

Seen only through 10x magnification, or greater, these messages to add a level of uniqueness to your diamond that can further separate it from all the others out there on the market. Along with having a personal message, additional benifits include makingthe diamond easier to identify when you have work performed on it, and even the possibility of slightly lower insurance premiums.

For years many vendors in the diamond trade wanted to close the gap between the SI2 clarity grade and the I1 clarity grade. Among the reasons stated were the wide gap between the SI2 and I1 clarity grades, and the loss of value that an I1 diamond suffered over an SI2 diamond.

In the early 1990s EGL, the European Gemological Labratory, introduced the SI3 clarity grade. This new grade is designed to fill the gap between SI2 and I1. This becomes increasingly important as more and more lower quality stones are sent in for lab reports for sale on the internet.

Bill Boyajian, President of GIA, wrote the following letter to Jewelers’ Circular Keystone JCK Magazine in May 2002:

“We have studied the SI3 suggestion at various times over the years, and yet again recently when proposed and adopted in principle by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses. However, GIA still concludes there is no reason to change our long-standing and universally accepted diamond grading system.”

While the SI3 is an accepted grade these days, it may be fair to assume that any SI3 diamond would most likely receive an I1 clarity grade is sent to GIA.

Diamond clairty is is defined by the amount of surface blemishes and internal inclusions. The fewer blemishes and inclusions, the more valuable the diamond. Inclusions and blemishes do provide one benifit to diamonds though. They can be used to positively identify a diamond since no two diamonds will have the same type and number of inclusions in exactly the same place.

The GIA Clarity Scale

• Flawless (FL): Flawless diamonds show no inclusions or blemishes of any sort under 10X magnification when observed by an experienced grader.
• Internally Flawless (IF): Internally Flawless diamonds have no inclusions when examined by an experienced grader using 10X magnification, but will have some minor blemishes.
• Very Very Slightly Included (VVS1 & VVS2): Very very slightly included diamonds contain minute inclusions that are difficult even for experienced graders to see under 10X magnification.
• Very Slightly Included (VS1 & VS2): Very slightly included diamonds Contain minute inclusions such as small crystals, clouds, or feathers when observed with effort under 10X magnification.
• Slightly Included (SI1 & SI2): Slightly included diamonds Contain inclusions (clouds, included crystals, knots, cavities, and feathers) that are noticeable to an experienced grader under 10X magnification.
• Included (I1 & I2): Included diamonds Contain inclusions (possibly large feathers or large included crystals) that are obvious under 10X magnification and may affect transparency and brilliance.

Some diamonds are referred to as “eye clean” meaning that while they may have inclusions, these inclusions may not be visible to most people without magnification. These diamonds generally fall in the SI1 and better range though SI2 graded diamonds may exhibit similar eye clean characteristics.

Monday we will explain the new SI3 clarity grade.

Diamonds come in a wide variety of colors. From traditional whites to yellows, pinks, blues, greens and even the very rare red. These non white colors are generally referred to as fancy colors and tend to be sold based on their own separate scales of value based on color depth and intensity. Traditional white and off white colors though are groups into a standard letter grading system created by GIA, the Gemological Institute of America.

GIA decided to start their color scale with the letter D because at the time many jewelers were using a wide variety of grading scales, but none were using anything below the letter C. Once the start of the scale was determined the colors were then grouped in colorless, near colorless, faint yellow, very light yellow, light yellow and fancy.

While the colorless diamonds command the highest prices, the best value for the dollar tends to be in the near colorless color range, especially the G, H, and I colors.

Tomorrow’s tip will help explain the clarity scale.

For many reasons natural diamonds may not be an option. But that doesn’t mean that you need to go without. Modern CZs such as the Signity line from Stuller or the Interlap line can be very lovely and incredibly inexpensive when compared to a natural diamond. Next up the scale is a diamond infused CZ such as the one offer by BetterTheDiamond.Com. Their Asha CZs are hand cut and then put through a process that bonds carbon to the outside of the CZ. It provides a more natural look than CZ and is slightly more durable.

There are also natural gemstone alternatives to the white diamonds. White Topaz is a great alternative that is readily available, has a higher refractive index than a diamond, and is a fraction of the cost. Or you can even go with a White Sapphire. White Sapphires can be a little more expensive than Topaz, but still less expensive than a diamond. White Sapphires are rarely pure white though. Many have a steel blue tint to them that many people find stunning.

You don’t have to buy a diamond to be happy. There are plenty of alternatives that can save you money and offer you something special to talk about when showing it off.

Diamonds are the hardest substance known, but they are also one of the more brittle and they can be chipped and broken. What should you do if you think you have chipped your diamond?

1. Wrap your ring in something soft, a simple tissue works fine for this. Put it somewhere safe until you can get to your jeweler to have it inspected. Continuing to wear the ring risks further damage from additional impacts.

2. Take your ring to a jeweler to have it inspected. It may be a small chip that can be protected and covered by simply rotating the stone in the setting. Or it may be a fracture that requires replacing the diamond.

You have several options if your diamond is damaged. One of the better options is to have the diamond recut. Smaller chips can be polished out with little additional loss of carat weight. While more extensive damage may require more agressive recutting.

The stone of innocence, diamond is the one stone everyone knows. Taking its name from the Greek work adamas, meaning unconquerable, it is pure compressed carbon and is the hardest substance know to man so far. First given in an engagement ring in 1470, it has become the traditional symbol of love.

Not a fan of diamonds? Not to worry. Mother of Pearl is also a birthstone for April. Mother of Pearl, also known as Nacre, is actually the smooth lining in the shell of certain types of molluscs. Created by layers of calcium carbonate and crystals, and lustrin, when it is thick enough it can then be cut into gems with a wonderful lusterous quality.

Lab created diamonds, also known as cultured diamonds, are diamonds made in a labratory. For all intents and purposes they are real diamonds.

Most lab created diamonds start out as a small diamond grain that is placed in a huge oven under extreme pressure. Using a process that deposits layer after layer of carbon on the original diamond grain a new diamond can be created in as little as 4 days depending on the process used. These lab created diamonds are nearly impossible to distinguish from the real thing. They are so well made that the federal government requires that each lab created diamond be inscribed with a laser to let people know that they are cultured.

For white diamonds they can represent a 15% savings over natural diamonds. Where they really shine is in the colored diamonds where the savings can be far more significant.