Diamonds are differentiated not only based on 4Cs – Color, Cut, Carat, Clarity – but also as per their physical and chemical properties. The lion’s share of people doesn’t know about this and classifies diamonds on the basis of the 4Cs which actually are diamond grading attributes. Classing diamonds according to their color and chemical properties helps distinguish between natural and lab-grown diamonds. To help you quickly understand the dilemma, I have explained the diamond types both from a customer’s point of view and from the viewpoint of gemologists.
A customer’s point of view…
As per the customers’ way of looking at it, diamonds are of 4 types – Natural, Lab-grown, Treated, and Natural Fancy Color.
Natural Diamonds
These are naturally formed under the earth’s surface millions of years ago due to extreme pressure and high temperature. If we don’t further get into the technicalities of it, in general, when people talk about diamonds, they mean natural diamonds.
Lab-grown Diamonds
As the name suggests, these diamonds are grown in laboratories in a controlled environment imitating the appropriate conditions required to form natural diamonds. It’s the only differentiating factor between natural diamonds and lab-grown ones. Other than that, you can not distinguish between the two in any way, especially not with an unaided eye. Only a gemologist can do it.
Treated Diamonds
Included or blemished diamonds mined like the natural ones are often treated to enhance their attributes. Treatments add to the clarity of the included diamonds. The prices of such diamonds consisting of noticeably visible inclusions are lesser than natural untreated diamonds. The prime reason why these need to be treated and corrected is to increase their prices.
Fancy Color Diamonds
When one pictures a diamond, an image of a clear and glittering gem comes to mind. While it’s true that typical colorless diamonds are the most popular ones, fancy color diamonds too are coveted around the world. They are the rarest of gemstones and come in all colors of a rainbow. Fancy color diamonds came to limelight through celebrities who wore them in their necklaces or engagement rings.
The viewpoint of gemologists…
Diamonds are essentially composed of pure carbon, but many of them also contain trace elements such as nitrogen or boron. These trace elements are already present in some natural diamonds, while in some lab-grown diamonds these are infused during synthesis. Diamonds also contain lattice defects – imperfections caused in the lattice of carbon atoms. These trace elements and lattice defects define the appearance of a diamond with their presence and quantity. Now that you’ve understood the basic technicalities of it, let’s get to the bottom of the crux.
Type Ia
These are the most common types of diamonds and contain nitrogen atoms in clusters. Type Ia diamonds cover a near-colorless to light-yellow tone due to the presence of nitrogen atoms that absorb light in the blue range of the spectrum and reflect it in yellow. More than 90% of diamonds are type Ia. These are also known as ‘cape diamonds’ because they were mined initially in or near Capetown, South Africa.
Type Ib
This type is the rarest of them all. Often bright-yellow in color, type Ib diamonds contain nitrogen, but not in clusters; instead, as single, scattered atoms. Type Ib diamonds are also known as ‘canary.’
Type IIa
Chemically, it’s the purest of the diamond types as it contains no measurable nitrogen impurities. Due to this reason, type IIa diamonds don’t easily absorb light, and as a result, they are usually colorless. Fancy-colored type IIa diamonds can be gray, light pink, light brown, or light yellow.
Type IIb
These diamonds lack nitrogen atoms but contain boron within the crystal structure. Type IIb diamonds are highly-valuable and are known to conduct electricity. As boron absorbs light in the red range of the spectrum, most type IIb diamonds are blue or grayish-blue in color.
Earlier in the 1930s, scientists used to categorize the chemical composition and atomic structure of diamonds as type I and type II. With time, categories got further divided into four parts.
There’s a big difference between grading and categorizing diamonds, yet, most people aren’t aware of it…
Knowledge is power. Wading through this blog might help you in your endeavors related to diamonds. But don’t go flaunting all this intelligence everywhere. Relax! Peter Parker. Leverage it while selecting a diamond ring for your Mary Jane.
