|
There are a variety of enhancements or treatments a diamond can undergo that can significantly alter the price of the diamond. The Federal Trade Commission requires all diamond merchants to disclose all diamond enhancements and/or treatments that have been applied to each diamond when they communicate with their customers. Failure to do so can result in fraudulent charges and lawsuits again the diamond merchant.
Bleaching: This process uses chemical or other agents to lighten or remove a gemstone's color. Its intent is to achieve a brighter/whiter gemstone.
Gamma / Electron Irradiation: The use of gamma and/or electron bombardment is to alter a gemstone's color and it may be followed with a heating process.
Heating: The use of heat in a high temperature sintering furnace to affect desired alteration of color, clarity and/or phenomena.
Infilling / Fracture Filling: The intentional filling of surface breaking cavities or fractures usually with glass, plastic, opticon with hardeners and/or other hardened foreign substances to improve durability, appearance and/or add weight. The foreign material will have a different refractive index than diamond and a trained gemologist may see the light bending within the stone.
Lasering: A laser is used to penetrate a diamond and remove black inclusions. Chemicals are than introduced into the diamond to whiten that inclusion.
Oiling / Resin Infusion: The intentional filling of surface cavities with color or colorless oil, wax, natural resin or unhardened man-made material into fissured transparent/translucent gemstones to improve appearance. (Example: oil, man-made resin, paraffin etc.)
Irradiation: The use of neutron bombardment, with the combination of any other bombardment and/or heat treatment to alter a gemstone's color.
|
