Warmer mined prettier than warmer lab?
- Thread starter nj2nc
- Start date
newtojewels
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2020
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- 858
@Rockdiamond mentions in the listing below that slightly tinted lab diamonds often have 'off' colors and are harder to find than colorless. I've seen Jonathan from Distinctive Gem say the same.
My non-expert understanding is that yellow in diamonds comes from Nitrogen, brown comes from deformation in the crystal structure, and blue comes from Boron. Quickly-grown CVD will have issues with the crystal structure leading to browns and greys and HPHT can have too much Boron and get blue nuance, but neither process has Nitrogen as the most common cause of color, unlike natural diamonds. But obviously there are brown/grey/blue natural diamonds too, it's just which causes for tint are the most common with each growth method.
Here's a 2.53 carat lab near-colorless antique-style cushion, so they do exist! https://diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/253ct-h-vs1-cushion-lgd-r10723
I'm looking forward to hearing more from actual experts!
My non-expert understanding is that yellow in diamonds comes from Nitrogen, brown comes from deformation in the crystal structure, and blue comes from Boron. Quickly-grown CVD will have issues with the crystal structure leading to browns and greys and HPHT can have too much Boron and get blue nuance, but neither process has Nitrogen as the most common cause of color, unlike natural diamonds. But obviously there are brown/grey/blue natural diamonds too, it's just which causes for tint are the most common with each growth method.
Here's a 2.53 carat lab near-colorless antique-style cushion, so they do exist! https://diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/253ct-h-vs1-cushion-lgd-r10723
I'm looking forward to hearing more from actual experts!
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2009
- Messages
- 9,785
Hi @nj2nc
@newtojewels gave the accurate, technical reasons for color in diamonds.
I have been very interested in the actual stones, as opposed to the reasons why they have color....
Much of the "off color" lab material I've seen is grey, as opposed to brown or yellow, which are more common in natural diamonds.
I've also found that yellow is harder to achieve than some of the other colors. I'm basing this on the market, and the sorts of stones being offered.
The effects are easily seen as yellow lab diamonds that look good ( most of them are not natural looking) fetch prices 2-5x that of colorless lab diamonds.
In answer to your question- yes we're seeing the same!.
@newtojewels gave the accurate, technical reasons for color in diamonds.
I have been very interested in the actual stones, as opposed to the reasons why they have color....
Much of the "off color" lab material I've seen is grey, as opposed to brown or yellow, which are more common in natural diamonds.
I've also found that yellow is harder to achieve than some of the other colors. I'm basing this on the market, and the sorts of stones being offered.
The effects are easily seen as yellow lab diamonds that look good ( most of them are not natural looking) fetch prices 2-5x that of colorless lab diamonds.
In answer to your question- yes we're seeing the same!.
Thank you so much @newtojewels and @Rockdiamond!! I sense a trend! I’d bet warmer natural stones take a lead in popularity as this is a sliver of market where labs don’t overlap. Thank you for the technical deets it was very helpful to put into words what I could only sense just from researching. Cheers to you both!!
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