Don’t be Fooled by Enhanced Diamonds
The phrase 'too good to be true' can be applied to everything, including diamond jewelry. If you find a cheap engagement or bridal ring or see signs for wholesale diamond rings, be sure the seller isn't cutting their price by cutting quality. While there are exclusive retailers that offer genuine designer diamond rings and other natural diamond jewelry at great prices, many offer lower prices because they use enhanced diamonds.
Unlike high-quality natural diamonds, enhanced diamonds are inferior stones artificially treated to hide cracks, repair ugly inclusions, and improve their color. These treatments include laser drilling and boiling in sulfuric acid to remove black or dirty inclusions, exposure to radiation to enhance or change the stone's color, placing the diamond in extreme heat and pressure to improve clarity, using a sealant to hide cracks and pits, and being coated with a substance to add a reflective effect.
While all these treatments can make a gemstone cheaper than a natural diamond, don't be fooled. Enhanced diamonds cost less because they are lower quality and less valuable. There is a heated debate in the jewelry industry about using treatments to enhance diamonds, as it can make stones challenging to grade and certify accurately.
Under US law, all enhanced diamonds must be declared and sold as such. One of the most common practices that must be declared is laser drilling to dissolve inclusions and improve clarity. These holes are visible under a jeweler's microscope.
The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is the leading organization in studying and grading diamonds and all other gemstones. They require that all diamonds that have been laser drilled must be disclosed on the appraisal as enhanced. When buying diamond jewelry, ensure a precise inspection discloses complete information about each stone.
If precise information about stone enhancements is not immediately available, or a customer service rep wants to avoid discussing this process openly, walk away and look elsewhere for a natural, high-quality diamond.
Unfortunately, just because a diamond has not been laser drilled does not mean it hasn't undergone other enhancement treatments, such as being boiled in sulfuric acid. Most inferior stones have fractures that extend to the surface from inclusions deep in the gem, allowing the acid to travel into the inclusion without holes being bored.
- Would you consider buying a diamond ring if you knew the diamond had been immersed in sulfuric acid?
- Or buy a diamond bracelet exposed to radiation?
- Would you buy any gemstone jewelry you knew had cracks filled with a sealant?
The GIA has announced that new treatments to enhance diamonds artificially are being developed all the time, making it more difficult for customers to identify and buy genuine, natural diamonds. They have reported finding diamonds being sold with "an uneven texture with abundant fractures" and "unevenness in their color" — without being able to identify the techniques used to treat the stone. High-pressure/Heat-treated (HPHT) annealing of diamonds has been called "one of the most serious challenges the diamond industry has ever faced."
This worrying trend makes buying diamond jewelry only from a trustworthy source even more critical. Look for retailers that advertise they don't use enhanced diamonds and have clear certification for all of their diamond jewelry. While enhancements may not be visible to the naked eye, they will certainly be visible to a trained jeweler or appraiser. Any valuable piece of diamond jewelry is an investment in the future, and you'll want to ensure that jewelry passed down from generation to generation retains the highest possible value.
Whether it's a diamond bracelet, an engagement ring, or a gold diamond ring, always insist on full disclosure and proper certification.
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Shop with confidence at JewelryNest. Browse our Engagement Rings, explore Lab-Grown Diamond Rings, or learn more at our Diamond Education Center.
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