What Are Clarity Enhanced Diamonds? Should You Buy?

What Are Clarity Enhanced Diamonds? Should You Buy?

What Are Clarity Enhanced Diamonds?

As a way to artificially improve the quality of natural diamonds, lab solutions for diamond clarity enhancement have grown in both technological capability and consumer popularity.

Clarity enhanced diamonds are natural diamonds that went through the process of removing imperfections artificially, making the stone look higher quality to the naked eye but causing certain flaws into the diamond that are visible under magnification and may present risks over time.

We discuss the clarity enhancement process step-by-step, as well as the risks involved, below.

Clarity Enhanced Diamonds: 3 Steps

1. Laser Drilling

A more advanced process that only recently (in the 1960s) became available, laser drilling is a technique by which laser technology is used to bore minuscule holes (0.2mm or 0.005 inches in diameter) into the diamond to reach its internal imperfections.

These holes are invisible to the naked eye, and can only be seen by reflecting light off the diamond’s surface during microscopic viewing under 10x magnification.2. Dissolving imperfections

Once the location of the imperfection inside the diamond (say a black carbon crystal) has been reached with laser drilling, the diamond is immersed in sulphuric acid to dissolve the imperfection. As a result the black carbon crystal becomes colourless, and sometimes slightly white.

Dirt and debris cannot travel down this microscopic hole.

However because such internal imperfections cannot be reached without drilling the stone (thus creating a small crack in it all the way to its surface), some have expressed concern that this process may have a long-term durability effect on it.

3. Fracture filling

Often the last step in the diamond enhancement process, fracture filling is done using solutions with a refractive index similar to the diamond’s.

This solution that spans all the way to the surface of the diamond can also be detected under microscope by trained gemmologists, and may give the diamond features that are unseen in natural diamonds such as air bubbles within the glass, or traces of surface-reaching fractures.

The colour of the solution may also cause problems, potentially affecting the diamond’s colour grade by giving it a yellowish or brownish tint.

Moreover if the diamond is exposed to very high temperatures (for example to 1.400°C under a jeweller’s torch during routine repairs), the solution may melt and thus degrade the diamond’s clarity.

Lastly, fracture-filling is controversial because many companies do not disclose this treatment when selling diamonds advertised as “natural.”

Certification of Clarity Enhanced Diamonds

GIA certified diamonds are the safest buy for investors, as this reputable laboratory refuses to certify clarity enhanced diamonds. When looking for certified investment grade diamonds, these are 100% your best option.

Less influential laboratories such as the EGL (European Gemmological Laboratories) and the GGL (Global Gem Labs) certify enhanced diamonds to their post-treatment clarity level. Their certificates do, however, state that the diamond’s clarity has been enhanced.

A third category of labs will certify clarity enhanced diamonds to their original clarity level, nullifying the stone’s added value as a result of the enhancement process.

Should You Buy Clarity Enhanced Diamonds?

If you intend to buy clarity enhanced diamonds for personal use and don’t mind the flaws and risks discussed above, then you should consider clarity enhancement as a way to save money and get a more beautiful diamond (to the naked eye) at a lesser price.

If you intend to buy clarity enhanced diamonds as an investment because your budget restrains you from a natural stone, we highly recommend you buy a smaller or lesser quality natural diamond that is cheaper instead. Clarity enhanced diamonds have significantly lower resale values.

Investing In Diamonds

Here at the Heritage Fine Assets blog we bring you weekly articles to help you make more informed diamond buying decisions – for both personal use and as tangible asset investments.

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