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Diamond fluorescence

J

jasmine mawson

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 4, 2021
Messages
13
Just wanted to talk about diamond fluorescence. In particular strong blue. I know I came here looking for info on it as I was uncertain so thought I’d create a thread on it too. I recently bought a 3 carat E SI1 (100% eye clean) round brilliant with strong blue fluorescence, and the fluorescence has absolutely no negative affect on the diamond whatsoever. In bright direct sunlight it sparkles and has no hint of extra colour, cloudiness etc, it’s just stunning! I have added a picture of it out in the sun. It’s crystal clear and a stunning diamond. So, don’t be afraid of fluorescence! It’s not always a bad thing 392588A1-2FC7-4B41-93DA-34CD8B08D90E.jpegimage.jpg
 
Thank you for this. Your ring is gorgeous.
I just recently purchased a 2 ct E SI1 round brilliant with VSB fluorescence, I’m still waiting for it to be set and will post pics once it’s here, but in the meantime I love seeing another fluorescent stone with similar stats (makes me less nervous & excited ).
 
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sparklebling123 said:
Thank you for this. Your ring is gorgeous.
I just recently purchased a 2 ct E SI1 round brilliant with VSB fluorescence, I’m still waiting for it to be set and will post pics once it’s here, but in the meantime I love seeing another fluorescent stone with similar stats (makes me less nervous & excited ).
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I was sooooo nervous, because I didn’t see it in person until it was delivered to me and took 2 months. So it was 2 months of anxiety and crazy searching haha. I have 0 regrets and got a better quality stone for the price of a miss less quality one purely because it had the fluorescence, which is crazy when it has no impact on its beauty. Good luck, I’m sure yours will be absolutely stunning, make sure you come back and show us
 
jasmine mawson said:
I was sooooo nervous, because I didn’t see it in person until it was delivered to me and took 2 months. So it was 2 months of anxiety and crazy searching haha. I have 0 regrets and got a better quality stone for the price of a miss less quality one purely because it had the fluorescence, which is crazy when it has no impact on its beauty. Good luck, I’m sure yours will be absolutely stunning, make sure you come back and show us
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Lol. This is currently me - researching, stressing & worrying. I really hope it’s everything I’m dreaming of it to be. I will definitely come back to post pictures .
Wear your beautiful ring in good health. PS. It’s huge I love the 3ct. Hehe also love the setting & wedding band. You should post more pics & make a thread SMTB
 
Beautiful ring! I’m surprised you don’t see more impact especially on an E. Have you looked at it with a UV light yet?
 
Beautiful. I love fluorescence! Something fun to do is get a UV flashlight and shine it on your diamond in a dark room, then turn off the flashlight. You may see orange phosphorescence in the diamond!
 
mwilliamanderson said:
Beautiful ring! I’m surprised you don’t see more impact especially on an E. Have you looked at it with a UV light yet?
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Honestly from everything I’ve read from people who actually own a diamond with SBF, majority don’t notice any negative effects at all. Still seems like it’s a lot of hype. The amount of comments I see from people saying “it’s likely to cause haziness/milkyness etc” are just adding fuel to the discussion because it’s actually much more likely there will be no effect. From what I’m noticing anyway.
No I haven’t, ive only had it a few days, but I’m excited to give it a try that’s for sure
 
Tourmaline said:
Beautiful. I live fluorescence! Something fun to do is get a UV flashlight and shine it on your diamond in a dark room, then turn off the flashlight. You may see orange phosphorescence in the diamond!
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I’ll buy a flashlight off amazing and give it a go!
 
mwilliamanderson said:
Beautiful ring! I’m surprised you don’t see more impact especially on an E. Have you looked at it with a UV light yet?
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It is absolutely hilarious the hysteria around fluorescence MWA.
Consider:
1. Discounts are bigger for higher clarity diamonds - yet lower clarity diamonds are way more likely to suffer haziness than top clarity diamonds.
2. In the 1930's Blue White diamonds were trading at a premium, until the US FTC banned the use of the term. Because the diamonds appeared whiter than white.
Why did the FTC make this move?
Because naughty marketers were offering lower colored diamonds as Blue White diamonds.

So why is that Rapaport lists these discounts for Strong Blue:
1.00-2.99ct D-F IF-VVS2 is -25%
1.00-2.99ct D-F SI1-SI2 is -16%
1.00-2.99ct I-K is -12 to -10%

Does not have any logic of make any sense!
 
That is ICY! Holy moly! I love it! I have a D with medium blue flour and I think it’s gorgeous. It’s the clearest iciest diamond I’ve seen in person. I agree, fluorescence is SO COOL! Congrats!
Ps I second getting a UV light. About once per week I go into a dark room and watch all my babies glow :) fun fun !
 
Garry H (Cut Nut) said:
It is absolutely hilarious the hysteria around fluorescence MWA.
Consider:
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Very interesting Garry. Misinformation is hard to undue I guess. At least know I know how to find a discounted stone!
 
Love your ring. I, too, like fluorescence.

So if it is indeed true that SF rarely leads to milkiness why the price difference? And why can’t the lab certificates articulate “cloudy fluorescent?”
 
oncrutchesrightnow said:
Love your ring. I, too, like fluorescence.

So if it is indeed true that SF rarely leads to milkiness why the price difference? And why can’t the lab certificates articulate “cloudy fluorescent?”
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Presumably they worry about consequences of changing values and legal threats.
But it really beats me!
 
Garry H (Cut Nut) said:
It is absolutely hilarious the hysteria around fluorescence MWA.
Consider:
1. Discounts are bigger for higher clarity diamonds - yet lower clarity diamonds are way more likely to suffer haziness than top clarity diamonds.
2. In the 1930's Blue White diamonds were trading at a premium, until the US FTC banned the use of the term. Because the diamonds appeared whiter than white.
Why did the FTC make this move?
Because naughty marketers were offering lower colored diamonds as Blue White diamonds.

So why is that Rapaport lists these discounts for Strong Blue:
1.00-2.99ct D-F IF-VVS2 is -25%
1.00-2.99ct D-F SI1-SI2 is -16%
1.00-2.99ct I-K is -12 to -10%

Does not have any logic of make any sense!
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Agree! It’s crazy! It’s a very handy way to save a bit of money and still get an absolutely beautiful stone!
 
oncrutchesrightnow said:
Love your ring. I, too, like fluorescence.

So if it is indeed true that SF rarely leads to milkiness why the price difference? And why can’t the lab certificates articulate “cloudy fluorescent?”
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I assume because there is so much fear around buying them when there is so much negativity and misinformation around it, it makes them “less desirable”, therefor harder to sell, and so it brings the price down, but in so many cases it’s absolutely unnecessary! My diamond is a prime example, I am still blown away by how beautiful it is so I’m pretty happy I got a bit of a cost saving, it’s worked in my favour haha. I have looked and looked in every possible setting and honestly cannot see a hint of anything bad caused by fluorescence
 
Sprinkles&Stones said:
That is ICY! Holy moly! I love it! I have a D with medium blue flour and I think it’s gorgeous. It’s the clearest iciest diamond I’ve seen in person. I agree, fluorescence is SO COOL! Congrats!
Ps I second getting a UV light. About once per week I go into a dark room and watch all my babies glow :) fun fun !
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I wish more people realised instead of being afraid! So many people have have med - strong fluorescence have all said the same thing - no negative effect. So why are people so scared! I understand there are times when the fluor DOES have a negative affect, but so do alot of aspects of diamonds, none of which are so actively avoided. Just crazy.
 
I love Flourescence! I wish the vendors with trade up would start allowing stones with fluorescence since so many love it, of course they wouldn't include the mikly/hazey ones but clean ones. Both of my previous stones have med or strong blue and they were amazing. Only Brian Gavin offers stones with flour and has a trade-up policy.
 
Blue fluorescence in an otherwise highly transparent diamond is certain not a negative in beauty or sentimental attachment to a more unique diamond. Diamond dealers, in their daily effort to buy a bit lower than the market use fluorescence as a broad hammer to work over the seller. From the discounts Garry Holloway provided, you can easily see that arguing over the presence of fluorescence works like magic between dealers. I don't see such vast discounts being offered frequently to consumers, especially those consumers who are possibly willing pay the price that non-fluorescent diamonds bring. Some consumers are even willing to pay a premium for superbly cut, strongly blue fluorescent diamonds. Those gems can be fantastic looking stones and there has to be a profit somewhere for sellers in all of this or there would be little reason to promote them as a separate category.

It is very pleasing to me that people have become so much more aware of the choices. For decades, UV fluorescence was so mysterious and now it can be seen with both the plus and minus views. I think many consumers know and care more about fluorescence than a whole lot of retail jewelers.

Unless there is a sweeping change in practices and attitudes among dealers, colorless to near colorless diamonds (G-H) with more than medium fluorescence will have a discount from those equivalent diamonds with less or no UV reaction should you ever wish to sell such a stone back into the market. Having a trade-in or trade-up policy on such a purchase may be highly useful sometime in the future. The seller will need to still be in business, but everything has risks. Knowing in advance, prepares you far better than being surprised years from now.

In my years of making jewelry, I bought and sold many diamonds with plenty of fluorescence. I even made ID bracelets and rings with names or initials that had hidden messages only revealed in a room lit by black light. The late 60's and 70's were a fun time, indeed. I enjoyed swimming against the current than and still do. It is all in knowing what you are doing rather than finding out too late that you were taking a risk that you didn't understand.
 
autumngems said:
I love Flourescence! I wish the vendors with trade up would start allowing stones with fluorescence since so many love it, of course they wouldn't include the mikly/hazey ones but clean ones. Both of my previous stones have med or strong blue and they were amazing. Only Brian Gavin offers stones with flour and has a trade-up policy.
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I agree, it’s strange they wouldn’t, there is plenty of people wanting them ! Im so glad I started this thread, lots of helpful info and will hopefully encourage others in future to not be afraid of fluorescence!
 
The savings with SBF can indeed be significant. I have a friend who purchased a G or H VS (VS1, IIRC) with SBF a fair few years ago and I remember her telling me she got a significantly bigger stone because she bought the SBF one (I think almost a carat bigger than the other options the jeweler offered, though I might be wrong). Her stone is beautifully bright white and huge! No haziness or cloudiness and a significant chunk of money saved. Of course resale might be more tricky but she doesn’t plan to ever sell. Fluorescence can be great!! Just have to gauge it by eye to make sure those possible negative effects aren’t present and you can make out like a bandit!
 
jasmine mawson said:
I agree, it’s strange they wouldn’t, there is plenty of people wanting them ! Im so glad I started this thread, lots of helpful info and will hopefully encourage others in future to not be afraid of fluorescence!
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I am not scared of fluorescence. I just simply do not like it. I want my ring to have none to negligible (better still be none). It is "a mind-clean" thing. And I will happily pay more for a stone without one. To each their own.
 
daisygrl said:
I am not scared of fluorescence. I just simply do not like it. I want my ring to have none to negligible (better still be none). It is "a mind-clean" thing. And I will happily pay more for a stone without one. To each their own.
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I am the same but the other way around. I insist on at the very least Medium fluorescence.
 
I love fluorescence but in reality once you get past medium its a case by case basis if its a problem or not.
The good news is that its rare for it to be a oily/milky problem.
 
daisygrl said:
I am not scared of fluorescence. I just simply do not like it. I want my ring to have none to negligible (better still be none). It is "a mind-clean" thing. And I will happily pay more for a stone without one. To each their own.
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I used to feel the same, and with a smaller diamond I’d probably be more likely to be more picky but for a large stone and spending such a huge amount of money, I’ll happily take to cost saving. In this case I’d rather a 3 carat which looks beautiful because it’s a great colour over a lower colour and clarity for the same price
 
Karl_K said:
I love fluorescence but in reality once you get past medium its a case by case basis if its a problem or not.
The good news is that its rare for it to be a oily/milky problem.
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Totally. Worth shopping around and making sure it has no effect. But I’m yet to see a milky diamond due to fluorescence
 
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