Diamonds turning yellow?

[raddygast]

I just did a quick search and nothing turned up, so I''ll ask here:

What could possibly cause a diamond to change color, or what could possibly cause the perception that a diamond in a ring is changing color?

My girlfriend''s sister apparently has noticed, to her shock and dismay, that her 3-stone ring''s diamonds are beginning to yellow. I''ve heard of stones changing color on exposure to extreme temperature changes, radiation, chemicals, and so forth but don''t know if this is true or feasible with diamonds.

Any guesses?

 

[diamondlil]

Yes, Raddygast, I have heard and seen this happen.

A friend of mine has an E color diamond that after a year of daily wear was showing a yellow tinge to it. Turns out it was her well water causing the discoloration. I can''t remember exactly, but her well water had a high level of copper or iron or something (you should have seen her 100+ year-old ball and claw foot bathtub -- talk about discoloration -- yikes

). Her jeweler did some sort of acid treatment to the diamond, and it was white again. She no longer wears her ring 24/7 like she did before, and she cleans it daily just in case. It seems to have worked.

Has anyone else heard of this?

DiamondLil

 

[denverappraiser]

Really changing the color of the diamond takes some pretty aggressive action. Heat and chemicals won''t do it to untreated diamonds but serious radiation can. More than a fatal dosage for the owner is required. Your chances of this are exremely low and I wouldn''t suggest you be all that concerned about your diamonds if your lifestyle has you exposed to such materials.

Foreign debris on the stone or the mounting can change the apparent color by quite a bit. Rust and the like don''t actuallly stick to diamonds very well but I suppose it''s possible to get something from the water and this sort of chemical attack can change the color of the prongs as well as leaving a stain that is difficult to clean. The usual activity of your life exposes your jewelry to a variety of things that can gunk it up. Clean it occationally and have it polished from time to time and you''ll be fine.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[Maxine]

Help!!! I have horrible water...with iron...but won''t the ammonia/water/dish soap bath counter that? I use the hair dryer so the water doesn''t have time to damage anything....How well does the steam cleaning at the jewelers get all of this off? Is there something different we should be doing, Denver Appraisor?

 

[Maxine]

Thanks....he assures me he has ways to clean anything...even under the melee......

 

[mayfieldfan]

I have well water *biting nails* with a city water tank.

What is the diverence between the red walmart solution with brush and the jewelry store clear that you just shake the bottle?

Can anyone suggest a great diamond/jewelry cleaner

Thanks!
JESSICA

 

[cmargosi]

I bought my mother the ultrasonic jewelry cleaner from Sharper Image for Mother''s Day. You mix ammonia and water and it "vibrates" the dirt out of things. She liked it so much she bought another. I found it also did a nice job cleaning my watch band out.