Diamonds • Precious Gemstones • Jewelry • Gemology

Two common methods of enhancements are fracture-filling and lasering, and if your diamond has been enhanced in either manner, you should pay less for it than you would for other diamonds.

Any legitimate jeweler will always disclose either of these treatments to the consumer.

Fracture-filled diamonds have cracks visible to the naked eye, which are filled with a glass-like substance that makes the cracks disappear except when viewed under a microscope.

If a fracture-filled diamond is treated carefully it might remain as beautiful as it is the day you buy it. But ignore the special care instructions and the filler can evaporate or change color, which will make the diamond much less attractive.

A prong gets broken and the ring needs to be repaired. In most cases the fracture-filling disintegrates leaving all the cracks visible.

Laser treatment can vaporize black inclusions in a diamond so they are almost invisible. The treatment is permanent so jewelers tend to look at lasered diamonds more favorably than fracture-filled. Experts can identify lasered diamonds with a microscope .. more

Yet another treatment, developed through new technology by G.E., uses a process to improve the color of diamonds so that they are closer to colorless. The process is thus far undetectable, but the company is touting the enhancement as permanent.

The G.E. stones are inscribed to distinguish them, but jewelers fear that unscrupulous dealers could scrape the inscription off.

Under Federal Trade Commission guidelines, a jeweler must disclose to consumers whether the diamond is fracture filled. And beginning this April, after much lobbying by jewelry industry watchdogs, the FTC is also requiring that jewelers disclose when a diamond is laser-drilled, Sperano said. There are no guidelines yet on the G.E. diamonds, which are being marketed, on a limited basis, under the name Bellataire diamonds.

GIA President Bill Boyajian stressed that there is a legitimate place in the industry for treated and synthetic gems, provided they are disclosed. However, he added, there are rogue treaters who refuse to disclose treatments.

The consequences of nondisclosure can be heavy, he noted, citing the collapse of the emerald market following consumer concerns over unstable fracture fillings, a “slide” in ruby prices following a new high-heat treatment of Mong Hsu goods that recrystallized some material into a kind of synthetic, and the collapse in prices for beryllium-diffused corundum. He also cited the “volatile” reaction against GE-produced HPHT-treated diamonds.

Two high-profile producers of synthetic diamonds promised full and complete disclosure when their products are market-ready.

Carter Clarke, co-chairman of Gemesis Corp., and Bryant Linares, president and CEO of Apollo Diamond, Inc., both promised “full disclosure down the line” for all their products, including laser inscriptions identifying them as lab-created diamonds.

Both also stressed that their products are designed to fill a consumer desire for high-quality diamonds at affordable prices.

Clarke, whose synthetics are grown by the traditional HPHT process, said Gemesis will offer diamonds equivalent to Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid yellow at a much lower cost than comparably colored natural diamonds, and will channel distribution through reputable retailers and jewelry manufacturers.

Linares, who helped adapt chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology to create gem-quality synthetic diamonds, explained that the “highly transparent, highly pure” CVD-created diamonds will be a new source of high-quality diamond that will give consumers new price options.

He told the audience that CVD-created gem diamonds are identical to mined diamonds in all ways that matter to consumers. They have a different spectroscopic signature, but are “predominately type IIa, with high purity because they have few inclusions. In short, with respect to the 4Cs, they are identical to natural diamonds.”

Both Linares and Clarke stressed that their products will fill a consumer niche for quality diamonds at affordable prices. Clarke said his products will be priced similar to G-VS diamonds of comparable weight. Linares has not yet determined prices for Apollo diamonds.  Burman, however, believes the prices that consumers will pay for synthetic goods cut off far below their expectations: “We’ve found little consumer interest above $500.”

Lasering - involves the use of a laser beam to improve the appearance of diamonds that have black inclusions or spots. A laser beam is aimed at the inclusion and basically drills down to the imperfection.

Acid is then forced through the tiny tunnel made by the laser. The acid disolves the dark crystal. Lasering is permanent and a laser-drilled stone does not require special care.

While a laser-drilled diamond may appear as beautiful as a comparable untreated stone, it may not be as valuable. That's because an untreated stone of the same quality is rarer and therefore more valuable.

Jewelers should always voluntarily tell you whether the diamond you're considering has been laser-drilled.