10 Things about Fancy Cut Diamonds that are Pure Myths
Diamonds are the hardest substance on the planet. They are more resistant to scratches than anything else. Aside from that, they don't have any distinguishing characteristics. As a result, gem-quality materials are extremely rare. They only make up a small percentage of the Earth's surface.
While gemologists and scientists still have a lot to learn about the Earth's surface, our current understanding of gem production suggests that diamonds are the most frequent jewel in the world. Moreover, diamonds are still plentiful outside of the Earth's limits. According to a recent finding, certain stars collapse, forming massive diamond crystals.
A white dwarf in the constellation Centaurus has crystallised into a diamond with a diameter of 2,500 miles and a mass of 10 billion carats.
Here are the 10 Myths about Fancy Cut Diamonds
MYTH: Mother Earth is the only Source of Diamond
Companies like General Electric and Industrial Distributors Ltd. (later rebranded to Element Six) began creating fancy cut diamonds in a high-pressure, high-temperature method as early as the 1950s (HPHT). Diamonds are created utilising a supply of carbon (regular graphite, such as that found in pencil) and metal that functions as a solvent for the carbon under these conditions, which replicate the environment 100 miles below the Earth's surface.
Diamonds have also been synthesised using other ways. In a layer-by-layer procedure, the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) approach generates a diamond crystal under pressure and temperature settings vastly different from those employed in HPHT. The thermal dissociation of hydrogen paired with a gaseous supply of carbon in plasma at a temperature exceeding 2,000°C creates growth conditions in CVD. This technology produces high-quality polycrystalline and single-crystal synthetic fancy cut diamonds due to the growth rates and purity control.
MYTH: Diamonds are rare and valuable.
"Precious" is a word that signifies "valuable." A French jeweller used "precious" and "semiprecious" to describe jewels in the 18th century. While these categories are still available,
On the other hand, fancy cut diamonds have very high value in their better grades. You can find small, low-quality fancy shaped diamonds in quantity for just $1 for a piece. On e-commerce websites, you can find many fancy shaped diamonds under $20. These are far from precious.
MYTH: Diamonds are the most brilliant of all gems.
A gemstone's brilliance is determined by its faceting and refractive index (RI). This refers to the amount of light reflected back to the observer. The RI of diamonds is 2.41, which is exceptionally high. Therefore, fancy cut diamonds can have excellent brightness if cut appropriately. The RI 2.90 of Rutile, on the other hand, is much higher. At least eight minerals have a higher RI than diamond, excluding synthetics.
MYTH: Selling Fancy Shape diamonds can bring in a lot of cash.
Margins on fancy cut diamonds have become incredibly small due to the widespread use of the Internet and the development of widely agreed diamond grading standards. As a result, diamond merchants frequently achieve gross margins of less than 5%. In almost any other industry, that would be unthinkable. As a result, you'll no longer consider diamond sales lucrative.
MYTH: Diamonds cannot have Curved Surface
Diamonds are typically assumed to have flat edges or facets, although fancy cut diamonds with curved surfaces can be created via HPHT and CVD synthesis. HPHT, for example, can make a polycrystalline diamond in the round, conical, ballistic, and other complicated shapes without any post-production shaping or processing.
MYTH: Yellow colour Fancy Shape Diamonds are more Valuable than Colourless Diamonds
A diamond with a low colour score (below K) may be visually tinged yellow, but its value is substantially lower than a colourless diamond. Yellow (and other coloured) diamonds with a vivid, aesthetically pleasing colour and a high level of brilliance are referred to as "fancy coloured diamonds" in the industry. Some fancy coloured diamonds are more precious than colourless diamonds of equivalent quality.
MYTH: Diamonds have more “Fire” than other gemstones
The "fire" or dispersion of fancy shaped diamonds is well-known. This refers to their ability to divide white light into the rainbow's colours. Diamond, in reality, has a dispersion value of 0.044, which is relatively high. However, with a dispersion of 0.280, that's a long way from the rutile. Synthetic rutile stones, referred to as "Titania," were once advertised as diamond substitutes. They did, however, reveal far too much dispersion to be considered diamonds.
MYTH: Diamonds are not good conductors of Electricity
Diamonds were initially thought to be incapable of conducting electricity due to a tetrahedron structure formed by covalent connections between carbon atoms, preventing free electrons from carrying current. Most natural diamonds are electrical insulators; however, controlled dopants can be introduced into the material using CVD, allowing it to conduct electricity rather effectively.
Diamonds become blue at low concentrations and opaque at more significant amounts when boron is added to the lattice. As a result, diamonds behave like metals at these high concentrations and become good conductors of electricity.
MYTH: Diamonds are Forever
Diamonds are said to be nearly indestructible due to their hardness and endurance. However, diamonds do not last indefinitely. Carbon is found in both diamonds and graphite, but they are connected differently. Under normal conditions, diamonds degrade to graphite because graphite has a lower energy configuration. However, there is a considerable energy barrier to overcome before this deterioration is conceivable, which means that the process is so slow that diamonds can last billions of years. So, while diamonds aren't indestructible, they can be thought of as staying "forever," at least for us.
MYTH: Diamonds are Flawless
In their most common form, natural diamonds have impurities in their carbon crystal picked up from the environment they developed. Type Ia diamonds account for 98 per cent of all-natural diamonds and include up to 0.3 per cent nitrogen (or 3.000 parts per million). Because defects in the crystal absorb light of a specific frequency, this impurity often gives diamonds a yellowish colour. Type Ila is a colourless natural diamond with low nitrogen impurities and is extremely rare, accounting for less than 1% of all mined diamonds.
Connect with the team of Iris Gems now for more information on deciding between natural and synthesised fancy cut diamonds or to order a one for your loved ones.
