Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
What is diamond enhancement?
Will the value of the diamond change after enhancements?
Can I get a lab certificate for enhanced diamond?
Diamond Irradiation
What colors can be produced by diamond irradiation?
Are Irradiated diamonds safe/radiation free?
How stable is color produced by irradiation process?
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
Plasma Deposition Coloration Process
What colors can be produced by Plasma Deposition coloration?
Is Plasma Deposition coloration process permanent?
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
Why use Plasma Deposition coloration when other processes can produce permanent colors?
High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT)
What colors can be produced by HPHT?
Is HPHT process permanent?
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
What happens after the process?
Clarity Enhancement
Is clarity enhancement permanent?
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
How many grades will the clarity improve after processing?
Diamond and Jewelry Repairs
How is diamond recut and repolish different from clarity enhacement?
What is jewelry repair?
Online Purchases
Why buy color enhanced diamonds?
What are lab grown diamonds?
Answers
General Questions
What is diamond enhancement?
With advane in science and technology, it is now possible to alter the color and clarity of naturally occuring diamonds in lab.
Diamonds that have been modified in labs are called treated diamonds or enhanced diamonds.
Some of these modifications are intrinsically dependent on the diamond charectersitic while others are purely extrinsic reversible enhancements.
Will the value of the diamond change after enhancements?
In our opinion enhanced diamond are priced more than the original diamond as they are definitely more appealing and desirable.
However, they would be priced lower than a naturally occuring colored diamond or less included diamond.
Can I get a lab certificate for enhanced diamond?
Yes, most leading gem labs would certify an enhanced diamond as they would a regular gemstone.
However, some labs may not give a clarity grade to the clarity enhanced diamonds since the process may be reversible and
it is difficult to predict the original clarity grade. Most labs would grade the color of a color enhanced diamond with a
footnote saying that the diamond was enhanced.
Diamond Irradiation
What colors can be produced by diamond irradiation?
Blue, green and yellow are the most popular colors produced using the irradiation process. Orange, red and purple/pink
colors are also possible which are more difficult to produce.
Are Irradiated diamonds safe/radiation free?
Yes, absolutely! All enhanced diamonds produced by Prism Gem are processed exclusively in the United States adhering to strict safety
standards and government regulations. Diamonds colored by Prism Gem are 100% radiation free.
How stable is color produced by EBT process?
The color changes produced in diamonds by the irradiation process are irreversible.
The color is stable and permanent under normal wear and tear. The color is not affected by chemicals,
ultrasonic cleaners, steam cleaning, polishing or heating up to 1000°F.
Yellow, orange, red and pink colored diamonds are unaffected by heat even over 1000°F.
Blue and green colors may fade when the diamond is heated over 1000°F.
Special care of colored diamonds should be taken when resizing a ring or some jewelry repairs.
Avoid exposing diamond to jewelers torch which may heat diamond to over 1000° F.
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
Any diamond with transparency irrespective of its original color and clarity can be processed using this process.
Our lab can suggest which color is most suitable for a particular diamond after visual and chemical analysis in the lab.
In general, white diamond can be processed to any of blue, green or yellow colors.
We recommend blue or green colors for diamonds that originally has brownish color tone or black inclusions as this can mask the
the original undesiredcolor or inclusions. Diamonds with yellow tone can be processed to yellow color if it has NO fluorescence
or to green or greenish yellow color if the diamond shows fluorescence.
Plasma Deposition Coloration Process
What colors can be produced by Plasma Deposition coloration?
Pink purple, orange and red are the most popular colors produced using the Plasma Deposition coloration process. Blue, green and yellow
colors are also possible but are less popular as these colors are better produced by other processes.
Is Plasma Deposition coloration process permanent?
The color changes produced in diamonds by the Plasma Deposition coloration process are reversible.
However, the color is stable and permanent under normal wear and tear.
The color is may get depleted or damaged by corrosive chemicals like certain acids,
excessive cleaning in ultrasonic/steaming, polishing or heating over 500°F.
Special care of colored diamonds should be taken when resizing a ring or some jewelry repairs.
Avoid exposing diamond to jewelers torch which may heat diamond to over 500°F,.
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
Any diamond with transparency irrespective of its original color and clarity can be processed using this process.
Our lab can suggest which color is most suitable for a particular diamond after visual inspection.
In general, white diamond and diamonds with little secondary hue can be processed to any of pink, purple, orane or red colors.
We recommend orange or red colors for diamonds that have strong brown or yellow hue or black inclusions as this can mask the
the original undesired color or inclusions.
Why use Plasma Deposition coloring when other processes can produce permanent colors?
This process gives the diamond a fancy color without actually changing the diamond phsically or chemically.
The process can be reversed to revert back to the original diamond at any time.
Also, certain colors like pink and red are extremely difficult to get with other processes.
The process out come is independent of the diamond chemistry.
High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT)
What colors can be produced by HPHT?
Less than 2% of brownish diamonds (Type IIa) can be turned whiter and most others (98% Type Ia) can be turned yellow
greenish yellow or orangish yellow. Very rarely the diamond may turn pink or blue.
Is HPHT process permanent?
Yes, the changes in the diamond brought by this process are permanent and irreversible. The changes are unaffected by acids, ultrasonic, steam or high heat.
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
Brownish diamonds with no visible inclusions are suitable for this process.
Brownish "Type IIa" diamonds can be processed to turn it whiter and "Type Ia" will turn yellow, greenish yellow or orangish yellow.
The 'Type' is defined based on the nitrogen impurity distribution in the diamond.
It is determined using a "Type spotter" in our lab. Most diamonds (over 98%) turn out to be "Type Ia".
Very few get classified as "Type Ia". It is important that diamond submited for this process has NO inclusions.
The high heat and pressure involved in this process can increase the size of the inclusions.
What happens after the process?
After the HPHT process, the diamond needs to be repolished. The high temperature involved in the process leaves the
diamond slighly frosted due to surface oxidation. To get back the shine, surface needs to be repolished which results in a
marginal weight loss. We also provide the repolishing service at an additional charge.
Clarity Enhancement
Is clarity enhancement permanent?
Black carbon spots are removed by laser drilling. This process is irreverible and produces permanent changes.
Fracture fill process fills up visible fissure in the diamond with glass like material to reduce its appearance.
This is a reversible process. The filler material may dissolve in certain acids. Exposure of diamond to high heat can
result in depletion of the filler material.
What type of diamonds are suitable for this process?
Generally, only diamonds having a few concentrated black spots are suitable for laser drill. Each distinct carbon spot requires a separate drill.
Most visible fissures in the diamond, specially ones opening up to a surface of the diamond can be filled. Some diamonds have hazy
appearance which is not due to fissures but the crystal itself. Such diamonds cannot be clarity enhanced.
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Before Enhacement
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After Enhacement
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Before Fracture Fill
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After Fracture Fill
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Before Laser Drill
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After Laser Drill
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How many grades will the clarity improve after processing?
It is not possible to accurately predict the grade improvement without processing the diamond. Sometimes the diamond
might not improve at all or insignificantly (in which case we do not charge the customer). In others, it appears as if the
diamond has no inclusions.
Diamond and Jewelry Repairs
How is diamond recut and repolish different from clarity enhacement?
Clarity enhancement process fixes the internal blemished in the diamond. Certain diamonds may have features on the surface.
These can be fixed by recutting or replishing the diamond.
What is jewelry repair?
Ring resizing, replacement or resetting of loose/lost diamonds, jewelry cleaning and repolishing, fxing of broken jewelry piece are
some of the jewelry related service we offer.
Online Purchases
Why buy color enhanced diamonds?
With advances in science and technology, it is now possible to turn some of the colorless diamonds into fancy colored diamonds.
Naturally occuring colored diamonds are extremely rare and may lack the saturation in color that can be obtained by lab enhancements.
The color enahncement can be an intrinsic process that produces color centers in the diamond crystal itself (like in EBT and HPHT process)
or an extrinsic process as in case of Plasma Deposition coloring which externally bonds diamond with a coloring layer.
What are lab grown diamonds?
These are real diamonds except that these have been synthesized in a lab instead of Earth's crust.
A seed diamond crystal is grown in to a larger crystal in a lab by subjecting it to similar conditions as occur naturally in Earth's crust
Lab grown diamonds are physically and chemically similar to natural diamonds at fraction of a price and boating human technology.
