Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but do they always have your back? It turns out that despite your love for these brilliant, sparkly stones, they are not always perfect, and you have to be cautious when buying diamond jewelry; some may have black spots.
If you’ve come across what seems like a lifetime deal, ask questions: for example, why is it that cheap when natural diamonds cost so much more?
Does the low price tag represent a compromise, and what quality features will you have to compromise? At the end of the day, the quality of diamonds directly affects the price of the stones, and several factors come into play and determine all the quality features of the diamonds.
These include the cut, clarity, color, and carat weight. And for clarity, things like inclusions and fluorescence will affect the price and quality. One of the imperfections seen in diamonds that often lowers the price is the presence of black spots.
And if the diamond jewelry you’re considering is a tad cheaper because of black spots, this guide shares insights into everything you need to know about black spots or inclusions in diamonds.
So, let’s jump right into it!
New black spot on a diamond – Is it common to see?
Diamonds are imperfect, but it’s uncommon to find new black spots in the diamonds.
They have flaws, often known as inclusions. These inclusions are technically made of tiny spots with crap within the stone. Note that while inclusions are the imperfections inside the stones, blemishes refer to the imperfections on the outside of the stone.
And most, if not all, diamonds have inclusions. These inclusions are why some diamonds have yellow hues, and even some colored diamonds are primarily made of inclusions that sit deep in the crystalline structure of the diamonds.
While most inclusions come in different shapes, sizes, or colors, there are instances where the inclusions are black. These carbon spots are referred to as carbon spots. But how do they come to be?
Essentially, diamonds are made of carbon atoms entirely. Before they crystallize under the very high temperature and pressure conditions underground – 90-125 miles below the earth’s surface under the old and stable continental crust.
These conditions lead to the bonding of carbon atoms into molecules and then into crystalline forms, which coalesce into each other and keep growing until they form diamonds.
But the process is not always neat. Besides the diamonds that don’t crystallize, other foreign materials such as gases, water, and other minerals will also seep into the crystalline structure.
So, black spots are essentially the carbon molecules that didn’t crystallize. They form natural flaws in a diamond formation and are a part of the stones’ structure.
Some diamonds have few black spots; others have multiple. Unfortunately, the presence of the black spots affects the clarity of the diamonds.
The reason why it’s uncommon to find diamonds developing new black spots because these inclusions form into the depths of the stone over the many years that the diamonds form under the Earth’s crust during the crystallization of the diamonds.
So, there is no way that a new black carbon spot will develop inside a diamond you’ve had for years.
Do all diamonds have black spots? Why?
No, not all diamonds have black spots. But also, just because the stone has black spots doesn’t mean it’s a bad diamond.
Some diamonds have no black spots or any other kind of flaws, so they are internally flawless. But because of the unpredictable nature of the diamond forming process, it’s been shown that only a minimum of 0.5% of diamonds are that perfect.
The rest have inclusions and are imperfect, so the likelihood of finding the ideal diamond is nuanced.As mentioned above, the diamond creation process is neither neat nor controlled because it occurs in an unpredictable environment.
So, pretty much all diamonds have inclusions, which may or may not be black spots. The good news is that few diamonds will have black spots.
Is it worth buying a black spot diamond?
We don’t recommend buying heavily included diamonds, particularly those with large black spots. In addition to the lowered degree of clarity which means low sparkle and fire from the diamonds, the heavy presence of inclusions also means alters the structural integrity of the diamonds. Too many dark spots make diamonds brittle, and the stone would crack easily.
You should avoid diamonds with very visible inclusions.
If the diamond is slightly included, graded as SI1 or SI2, then the diamonds will be cheaper, and you may buy them if you don’t mind some hazy diamonds.
How to get rid of black spot in the diamond
1. Laser Drilling & Fracture Filling
This is one of the best ways to eliminate the black inclusions in diamonds. It involves drilling a microscopic hole into the diamonds using laser technology/ equipment.
The drilled channel is very thin and can be thinner than a human hair. The hole goes into the dark spot, and then the speck is treated using either acids or a heat treatment that will burn or dissolve the diamond’s black spot, leaving behind an empty, clear space.
Once this is done, the microscopic tunnel and the created hollow is filled up with a glass-like chemical through the fracture-filling process.
The process is risk-free, though. Laser drilling in diamonds with too many inclusions will weaken the structure of the stone, and the diamond would crack from any pressure.
On the other hand, fracture filling introduces elements with different chemical and physical properties from the diamonds, altering the diamond’s brilliance and color.
2. Some settings reduce the appearance of spots
Prong and bezel settings will make the black spots less visible, depending on the location of the spots. Neither setting will work for diamonds with black spots at the center.
However, neither of these setting styles works well when the inclusions sit closer to the edge of the diamond. And the diamonds can be rotated to ensure the best masking of the black spots.
3. Cleaning the diamonds
While the chemical processes above help deal with large inclusions, it’s not your best option, especially with diamonds with very small black spots.
Since dirt and dust make the black spots more apparent, you should clean the diamond jewelry frequently to make them less visible.
4. Upgrade the diamonds
If you don’t want to deal with the lower quality diamonds with visible black spots, you should instead spend more by upgrading to better quality diamonds like the slightly included ones, preferably the SI1.
If you’re not financially constrained, go for the VS1 or the VV1 or VVS2 (SI =Slightly Included, VS= Very Slightly Included, VVS= Very Very Slightly Included). As mentioned above, it is way too expensive to buy the very rare Internally Flawless diamonds with no inclusions at all.
Conclusion
A large percentage of diamonds have inclusions such as black spots compared to diamonds without inclusions.
However, not all diamonds with inclusions have black spots.
Tiger is a fashion&jewelry lover. He is also a fashion jewelry manufacturer that help thousands of small business to grow and also do business with some big fashion jewelry brands. He is a truly metal expert and he will share some information you are looking for.