Buying Gemstones and Diamonds

Buying Gemstones and Diamonds Gemstones can be broken down into natural and laboratory created gems. Many gems are laboratory-grown or synthetic. They usually have the same chemical and physical properties of a fully natural gem; however they are less expensive because materials such as glass and/or plastic are used to enhance coloring and clarity. Effects used to enhance visual appearance may include:

# Heating
# Irradiation
# Fracture Filling
# Diffusion
# Dyeing
# Bleaching

All laboratory-created imitation stones should clearly be identified as such. Be sure you know where your gemstones are from.

Diamonds#

Never forget that a diamond is based and priced on four criteria: Color, Cut, Clarity, Carat. The color and clarity are usually graded; however make sure to know that different companies scale diamonds differently. This means that scales are not uniform, and can change from once certificate to the next. When shopping for a diamond, make sure that you consider diamonds that are “flawless” because these usually have little to no visible or internal imperfections when viewed through 10x power magnification. Then again, these usually are the most expensive ones.

As with other gemstones, a diamond is weighed in carats. The carats can be described in decimal or fractional parts of a carat. It is important to know that if a diamond weight is listed as a fractional part of a carat, the retailer should disclose that: the weight is not exact and the reasonable range of weight for each fraction or the weight tolerance being used.

As with all other gems, a diamond’s clarity and appearance can be enhanced many different ways.

# Fracture filling: conceals cracks in diamonds by filling them with a foreign substance. (may not be permanent, ask jewelry expert)

# Lasering: the use of a laser beam to enhance appearance of diamonds that have black spots or inclusions. (Permanent)

These methods of “improving” a diamond may make the gem look exactly like a “flawless” diamond. However, an “improved” diamond will not hold the high price tag of a flawless one. Jewelers should tell you if the diamond you are about to purchase has been laser-drilled.

Finally, be careful with imitation diamonds such as cubic zirconia. They do a great job of resembling diamonds but are much less expensive. Ask your jeweler if they have testing equipment to distinguish between diamonds and other lab-generated gemstones.

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