Color alteration and misgrading

Flaw concealment and misgrading

Certification, alteration and counterfeit certificates
Weight
Giving total weight of all stones where more than one is involved, rather than the exact weight of the main stone, is another form of misrepresentation. This is in strict violation of federal Trade Commission (FTC) rulings. I giving the weight, particularly on any display card, descriptive tag, or other type of advertising for a particular piece of jewelry, the weight of the main stone or stones should be indicated as well as the total weight of the all the stones.
Color
Enhancing color artificially
Touching the culet, or side of a slightly yellow stone with a coating of purple ink, such as found in a indelible pencil, neutralizes the yellow, producing a more white looking stone. This can be easily detected by washing the stone in alcohol or water. If you have ay questions about the color, tactfully request that the stone be washed (in front of you) for better examination for better examination. A reputable jeweler should have no objection to this request.
Improving the color by utilizing a sputtering technique (also called painting the diamond). This involves sputtering a very thin coating of a special substance over the stone or part of the stone, usually the back, where it will be harder to detect when mounted. The girdle area can also be painted with the substance and create the same effect. The substance, like indelible pencil, also neutralize the yellow and thereby improves the color by as much as seven color grades, but unlike indelible ink, the substance will not wash off. It can be removed in two ways: by rubbing the stone briskly and firmly with a cleanser, or by boiling the stone carefully in sulfuric acid. If the stone is already mounted and is coated on the back, using cleanser is not feasible. The sulfuric acid method is the only way. But please note, using sulfuric acid can be extremely dangerous, and must be done only by an experienced person.
This technique is not frequently used, but stones treated in this manner do appear often enough to be worth mentioning.
Coating the diamond with chemicals and baking it in a small lab type oven. This technique also tends to neutralize some of the yellow, thereby producing a better color grade. This coating will be removed eventually by repeated hot ultrasonic cleanings, which will gradually erode the coating. A more rapid removal can be accomplished by the more dangerous method of boiling in sulfuric acid.
Radiation treatment. Exposing off color diamonds such as yellowish or brownish tinted stones (and also badly flawed stones in which the flaws would be less noticeable against a colored background) to certain types of radiation can result in the production of fancy colored stones. This treatment produces rich yellows, greens, and blues, and greatly enhances salability because these colors are very desirable. In and of itself, radiation is not fraud; it may make a fancy color diamond affordable to someone otherwise unable to purchase one. But again, just be sure that the stone is properly represented and you know what you are buying, and that you are getting it at the right price, which should be much lower than that of the natural fancy.
Treated diamonds must be represented as treated diamonds and should be priced accordingly. Whether the color is natural or treated can be provided by a gem testing laboratory. Not all gemologists, however, are competent with spectroscopic procedures, and some fancy color diamond require examination with very sophisticated equipment not available to most labs. Most natural fancy colored diamonds sold by jewelers in the United States are accompanied by a GIA diamond report.
Clarity enhancement and flaw concealment
Clarity enhancement
Be especially alert to the possibility that clarity may be enhanced. The two most frequently used techniques are lasering inclusions and filling the fractures. In both cases, dark inclusions or cracks which might normally be visible, in some cases, very visible, are concealed, or become much less noticeable. Be sure to ask whether or not the stone has been lasered or filled. As long as you know, and pay the right price, a clarity enhanced diamond may be an attractive choice.
Flaw concealment
Where possible, flaws are concealed by their settings. The good stone setter will try to set a stone in such a manner that the setting will help to conceal any visible imperfections. For this reason flaws near or at the girdle will downgrade a stone less than those found in the center of the stone; since most settings cover all or part of the girdle, they are simply less visible here. Indeed, a setting can make a flaw invisible.
There is nothing fraudulent in such uses of settings as long as the stone is properly represented. The only danger is that not only the customer but also the jeweler may not have the imperfection concealment by the setting.
Can concealment affect value? In most diamonds other than FL or IF, the presence of a minor flaw concealed under a prong will not affect the price significantly. However, given the difference in price between diamonds graded FL or IF and VVS1, a minor blemish or inclusion hidden by the setting which might result in a VVS1 diamond being graded FL could have a significant affect on value, especially if the stone has exceptionally fine color. For this reason diamonds should be viewed UN-mounted.
Certification of diamonds
Most diamonds weighting one carat or more are carefully evaluated prior to being set by a respected laboratory such as the GIA or the AGL, and are issued a diamond grading report. That report both certifies the diamond as genuine and describes it, providing important information as color grade, flaw grade, weight cutting and proportioning, and so on. If you are considering the purchasing of a very fine diamond weighing one carat or more and it is not accompanied by such a report, we would strongly recommend that you or the seller have the stone evaluated by the GIA or another respected laboratory prior to purchase. You should do so even if it means having a stone that is already set removed from the setting and reset. Given the significant difference in cost that can result from a grading error in the rarer grades, we believes this procedure is worth the inconvenience and expense.
Unfortunately, the confidence of the public in diamonds accompanied by the certificates has given rise to the practice of altering and counterfeiting them. While you can be relatively sure that certificated diamonds sold by reputable, established jewelry firms are what they claim to be, there are some suppliers and dealers who are seizing opportunities to prey on the unsuspecting.
Altering certificates
Sometimes information is changed on an otherwise valid certificate; for example, the flaw or color grade may be altered. If you have any question regarding information on the certificate, a phone call to the lab (or its web site) giving them the certificate number and date will enable you to verify the information on the certificate.
Counterfeit certificates
Producing a certificate from a nonexistent lab is an increasingly common problem. Stones accompanied by fancy certificates from impressive sounding labs that dont exist are appearing more and more frequently. If the certificate is not from one of the recognized labs, it should be carefully checked. If the lab seems legitimate, call to verify the information on the certificate, and if all seems in order, you can probably rest comfortably. Otherwise, you may need to have the facts verified by another gemologist or recognized lab.
Switching the stone described on a report
In some cases the report is bona fide but the stone has been switched. To protect both the consumer and the lab, some labs are taking advantage of ingenious techniques to ensure against switching. For example, a service called gem-print utilizes laser technology to display a diamonds unique pattern of reflection and then records it photographically. The result is an electronic fingerprint of the diamond which can be used for identification purposes. In addition, the GIA can now actually inscribe its report number, which is visible only under magnification, directly onto the diamond itself, along the girdle. By so doing, on can very easily be sure a specific diamond matches a specific certificate simply by matching the numbers.
In the absence of such a mark, one clue to a switched diamond might be provided by comparing the carat weight and dimensions given on the report. If the measurements and carat weight match exactly, the probability is slim that a diamond has been switched, provided the report has not been altered.
If the stone has been mounted, it may be difficult to get precise measurements to compare.
Always make sure, for both your protection and the jewelers, that the jeweler writes down on the bill of the sale or memo all the stones dimensions as best as can be determined: diameter or length and width, depth, and weight. This is to help ensure that you are not accused of switching the diamond after leaving the premises in the event you must return it.
Is it a diamond or a diamond imposter?
How can you tell if a stone is really a diamond? Unless, you are an expert, or consult one, you can not be sure about the identification of a stone. Nevertheless, there are a few simple tests you can perform that will show up most diamond imposters quite quickly. Here are a few things to look for:
Is newsprint readable or observable through the stone?
If the is a round modern cut stone and is loose or mounted in such a way as to allow you to place it table down over some small newsprint, check whether you can see or read any portion of the lettering. If so, it is not a diamond. Refraction of light within a genuine diamond is such you will not be able to see any of the letters in the newsprint.
Is the stone open or closed?
Diamonds are seldom glued in. Rhinestones often are.
Is the back open or closed?
If the stone is a properly set diamond, the back of the setting will usually be open, allowing you to readily see a portion of the pavilion. Some very small rose cut or single cut diamonds, as seen in some unique jewelry, Any be mounted with a closed back. Otherwise, if a ring has a closed back, it is probably rhinestone, in which case the back is often closed in order to conceal the foil that has been applied to the back of the stone.
How many facets are visible on the top?
In cheaper glass imitations only 9 top facets are usually visible, as opposed to 33 visible top facets in a diamond or good simulation. Single cut or Swiss cut diamonds will also show only 9 facets on the top, but they will be set in open back mountings, whereas cheap glass imitations are usually set in closed back mountings.
Does the girdle of the stone appear to be frosted?
The girdles of most diamonds are unpolished, with a ground glass like appear that suggests frostiness. The re are some diamond imitations that also have a frosted appearance, but of all of these, a diamond has the whitest frostiness, like clean, dry, round glass. On the other hand, some diamonds do have polished or faceted girdles, and thus no frostiness will be present. You can develop an eye for this by asking a reliable jeweler to point out the differences between a polished girdle, an unpolished girdle, and a faceted girdle.
Is the cut symmetrical?
Since diamond is so valuable and symmetry so important to its overall appearance and desirability, the symmetry of faceting on a diamond will be very carefully executed, whereas in diamond simulations the symmetry of the facets may be sloppy. For example, the eight kite shaped facets (sometimes called bezel facets) will often be missing one or more points on the side, or on the top or bottom, showing a small straight edge rather than a point. This sloppy faceting can be an important indication that the stone in question is not a diamond, since it indicated that a cutter did not take proper care. It should be noted that some poorer grade or old cut diamonds may also show sloppiness
Are the crown and pavilion of the stone properly aligned?
While occasionally a diamond may show partial misalignment, imitations are frequently and often badly misaligned.
Are the facet or faces scratched, chipped, or worn?
Diamond imitations include some stones that are very soft and/or brittle, such as zircon, GGG (a man made simulation), Fabulite (a man made diamond simulation also know as Wellington Diamond), and glass. Due their lack of hardness and, in the case of zircon, possible brittleness, these imitations will show wear easily, and one can often detect scratches or chips on the facet edges or faces. The edges are somewhat more vulnerable and scratches or chips may be more easily seen there, so check the edges first. The check then flat faces for scratches. Check both the area what would be most exposed and areas around the prongs, where a setter might accidentally have scratched the stone while setting it.
Zircon, a stone found in nature that is often confused with cubic zirconia (CZ), a man made imitation, is relatively hard but very brittle, so it will almost always show chipping at the edges of the facets if the stone has been worn in jewelry for a year or more.
Some diamond look-alikes, however, are more durable and resistant to noticeable wear. These include colorless synthetic spinel, colorless synthetic sapphire, colorless quartz, YAG (man made), and CZ. While these may scratch or chip over time with regular wear and daily abuse, scratches or chips are as numerous, and will be less noticeable.
Does the stone, loose or mounted, exhibit fluorescence under ultraviolet light?
This is not something readily accomplished by an amateur, nor comprehensible to the average person because of numerous variables and scientific complexities. If, after the above tests, you still have doubt, take the stone to qualified gemologist with lab facilities and ask him to identify the stone. If it is a diamond, have him note the nature of the stones fluorescence, as it can prove a valuable tool for identification if ever needed.
An important word about cubic zirconia
Cubic zirconia (CZ) is the best diamond simulation made to date, and even some jewelers have mistaken these stones for diamonds.
CZ is almost as brilliant as diamond, has even greater fire (which masks its lesser brilliance), and is relatively hard, giving it good durability and wear-ability. CZ is also being produced in fancy colors; red, green, and yellow, and can provide a nice diamond alternative as a means to offset or dress up colored stones in jewelry if diamond are not affordable.
How can you tell if you have a CZ?
Some of the tests already discussed may help you detect a CZ. The following may eliminate any remaining doubt.
If it is a loose stone, have it weighted.
A loose stone can be weighted on a scale, which most jewelers have handy, and you can determine how much it should weigh if it is truly a diamond. If the weight is much greater than the diamond weight should be, based on its spread, then it is not a diamond. A CZ is approximately 75% heavier than a diamond of the same spread. For example, a CZ that looks like a 1 carat diamond size-wise will weigh 1-3/4 carats; a CZ that looks like a1/4 carat diamond in terms of size will weight approximately 40/100 carat.
Look at the girdle.
If the girdle is frosted, a subdued whiteness resembling slightly wet or oiled frosted glass will indicate CZ. Looking at girdles to differentiate between the appearance of frosted CZ and frosted diamond girdles requires considerable experience.
Test the stone with a carbide scriber.
CZ can be scratched with a fine-point carbide scriber, also available at most jewelry supply stores. If the scriber is forcibly pushed perpendicularly to any of the facets (the table being the easiest) and then drawn across this flat surface, you will scratch it. You can not scratch a diamond except with another diamond. But be sensible and considerate. Do not heedlessly scratch merchandise that doesnt belong to you; particularly if the jeweler or seller doesnt represent the stone as a diamond.
Examine the stone, loose or mounted, for fluorescence.
Both CZ and diamond fluoresce, but the colors and intensities will be different.
Use an electronic diamond tester.
These are pocket size diamond testers which will tell you what you whether or not you have a diamond. Most wont tell you what you have if its not diamond, but only confirm whether or not it is diamond.
After these tests, if you have some questions, take the stone to a qualified gemologist with lab facilities for positive identification.
Comparing diamond prices
All too often people look for easy answers to complex problems. Many would like to have a simple list of diamond grades and corresponding prices, by size. Unfortunately, market conditions are constantly changing, and more important significant differences in quality not readily discernible to any but the professional. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a simple answer to this complex question.
The article above can be used on your web site or newsletter.
When it is published, May I request that you include my name and resource box (the bio., contact and copyright information that follows the article. I would also appreciate if you could send me an e-mail of notification along with a complimentary copy of publication.
Bijan Aziz is the owner and Web Master for The Jewelry Hut.

http://www.thejewelryhut.com

The best source for fine Diamond, gemstone, and Pearl Jewelry on the Webbr
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In 1965 my parents drove me to Benalla train station and pinned a name tag on my jacket lapel with travel instructions to guide me safely to summer holiday camp in Angle Sea, a camp established for migrant children. That was me, a migrant child, wog, bloody new Australian, bolt, boy from the camp. My folks fled the putrid atmosphere of racial hatred in South Africa in 1962. We never looked back, although my sister returned to spend time with our frail grandfather. Our new life continued to unfold and memories of burglar guarded windows, gunfire, sirens and a constant sense of being spooked by unseen spirits was gradually being erased from mind, as new friendly experiences took hold, thus I learned the power of positive over negative, good over evil. Like the man with hate tattooed on the knuckles of one hand and love on the other demonstrates how love overcomes hatred. Now I was learning early lessons in the art of crossing cultures, something that I would repeat countless times through out my life.

I desperately wanted to dispel those memories of disgusting violent actions amongst humans, and the spiral into degradation of those who plunder another mans rights to live by his beliefs. My parents always warned against harbouring such thoughts of race hate; to always show respect to elders regardless of race, colour or creed and that as sure as there is evil in us all, so to there is good. One should seek out the good in fellow man and judge accordingly.

So I enjoyed a warm happy relationship with the Native women who would stop for refreshments atop of the long hill upwards to their shanty town. Sitting beneath a big Silky Oak tree out front of our house, my mother would offer them large chunks of white bread with lashings of strawberry jam accompanied by enamel cups filled with hot black tea. I would make my entrance and soon be fondled affectionately by these black women with very large braless breasts and massive backsides; they joyfully tossed me around like a toy doll, tickling and jabbering in Zulu and broken English. I loved the warmth of their huge bodies; I felt secure and great love for these nameless ladies.

Childhood experiences bare relevance to the rest of your life. The things you learn, getting fingers burnt, loosing the bait from the hook and the big fish gets away, winning at marbles, hitting a six off the middle of the bat. Instincts that help over come uncertainty and keep fear a bay, but, the early gathering of confidence sets the stage for future performances, instinctively knowing how to navigate to unknown destinations without the aid of parents, learning how to shop for food and cook on a campfire, winning a boxing bout at the Police boys club without getting a bloody nose. All the experiences that build confidence, it’s like investing in the future, building a foundation through instinct. You become strong, intuitive and in tune with life around you.

Quite honestly it’s almost like having an extra sense, an early warning device that sets alarm bells ringing and a whispering voice inside your head says danger, so you instinctively listen to the warnings and take action to avoid potential hazards.

Standing alone on a platform to fend for myself did not evoke fear, or sadness as my parents disappeared from view, there was no feeling of loss, only excitement of my journey ahead. Confidence that built in my mind was like a fortress keeping negative states at bay as joy predominated. At the age of only twelve I could cope with the big bad world, which set the foundation for the rest of my life, as though an invisible map was drawn up and directions marked.

Once my parents had finally cleared the deck I removed the name badge and travel instructions and tossed them in the bin confident that this information was not required for me to complete the long journey ahead.

My leather suitcase at foot and calico bag over my shoulder Tweed jacket and tie. I surveyed the distant horizon and there, billowed black smoke from the chimney stack of the steam engine hauling the Southern Araura train shunting closer to the beginning of my new adventure.

My leather briefcase at foot and Samsonite micro over my shoulder I surveyed the platform at Chippenham station on the mainline to London Paddington. There was no smoke billowing from engine stacks, or shunting, steam power is traded for diesel electric power and baring down at great speed the screaming sound of massive engines. The train would not take me south to Anglesey, rather east to London Paddington. I was far removed from my childhood world in Australia, now residing in England and about to embark on another train journey.

When I observed my situation standing on the platform, my tweed jacket and tie, my leather case and shoulder bag, the feeling of great anticipation, confidence and joy, ironically simulating in many ways standing on a platform in similar attire in another life, with travel bags and patient stance waiting for the steam train to take me to Angle Sea. The journey of a child to manhood began.

In two hours I would be meeting with Cressida Bell a renowned textile designer. My goal was to negotiate purchase, copyright and licensees agreements to produce a number of her textile patterns. Once this was finalised I would be in the fortunate position to manufacture new silk tie designs under the name Patrick McMurray. This would give me adequate grounding in the complexities of licensing for future reference. And award exclusivity over textile patterns with the authorisation and signature of a well connected London based artist.

It was a perfect plan, and journeying in the comfortable, quiet rail carriages, which sped across the English country side ever closer to my destination, the foundation of confidence became more resistant to subsidence and further supported by instinct. All stemming from the learning’s of my childhood years. It seemed like such a long time ago, but then again the things I am doing now, are similar in principle to the things I did as a child, so I still carry a boyish innocence and fearless motivation.

As the train negotiated a long sweeping bend I caught my first glimpses of the steel arched trusses of London Paddington Station and felt a rush of excitement in the pit of my stomach. The same was experienced forty three years ago, entering the grandeur of Spencer Street Station Melbourne aboard the steam driven Southern Araura. I am still fulfilling child hood dreams.

Purveyor of finely crafted designer silk ties, cufflinks, men’s jewellery, belts and wallets, by renowned British Designers here at http://www.patrickmcmurray.com

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