By Amnon Barak, Director and Founder, Vivial Color Revealed Diamonds Ltd
The Polish scientist Marie Curie (1867-1934) became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize, the first woman to win it twice – and the only individual to win the prize for multiple science categories.
In 1911, she won the prize for chemistry, discovering the elements Polonium and Radon. During testing phases on Radon, she explored its influence on diamonds and found that their colors tended to change as a result of exposure to the new element. It was the first time that evidence of this nature was discovered and published.
Nature, as we are aware, only accounts for about 1% of “fancy” colored diamonds – truly rare stones that are mined with their color potential already realized — which explains their high demand and the even higher prices they command in the market.
From the standpoint of a consumer or jewelry designer “flipping the numbers” so that a majority of stones would be in color would be the perfect situation: more color = greater choice = ultimate fashion flexibility.
Can something indeed be done to make it happen?
Two stories illustrate the trends driving today’s color diamonds market.
In 1997, two leading jewelry manufacturers, Cartier and Tiffany, came out with lines using black and white diamonds – a look which has since become dominant in the field.
The design idea was revolutionary not to mention the economic factor of reducing costs. Black diamonds are the least expensive in the market and will reduce the average cost for diamonds per jewelry item.
Jewelers like Cartier, Tiffany and Gucci were able to maximize profits, taking advantage of the misconception in the market that if they are using black & white diamonds they must be expensive.
In 2003 a Japanese customer of ours asked us to develop a very light blue color. Six months later we sent him the first samples of the color we named ICE BLUE. The products become a success with orders of several hundred carats per month and more. A year later the customer wanted to know what new color developments we had. When I showed my surprise at his question he taught me one of the most important lessons I have learned in the jewelry world
Diamonds are jewellery,
Jewellery is fashion,
Fashion must be updated every year.
And during the last decade, the overriding trend in global fashion has been all about colors.
In nature, every diamond will get its assigned color based on two major factors: The impurity in the diamond; the imperfections in the diamond.
The impurity in diamonds is a result of the environment deep in the earth where atoms of foreign elements – mostly Boron and Nitrogen – replace some of the Carbon atoms during the crystallization process, creating color centers in the diamond lattice. The reason why we assort the diamond colors into D-E-F or M-N-L is due to the amount of these foreign elements inside the diamond crystal.
The imperfections will take effect during the long journey that diamonds take as they slowly rise to the surface, emerging from as deep as 150-200 kilometers from the belly of the earth.
The unstable conditions deep in the earth expose the diamonds to extremely high pressure. Over the millennia, some of the foreign atoms will change their location in the crystal as a result of this pressure, causing the white beam of light to refract differently when the diamond emerges and is cut and polished.
The source of all the beautiful colors we see in a polished diamond come from a white beam of light.
As we know, a beam of white or clear light includes a complete rainbow of colors. The polished diamond actually behaves as a filter for light beam. When the light strikes a polished diamond, some colors will be absorbed into the crystal some others will escape – one color will be seen.
In nature, this process successfully yields beautiful vivid colors, but it only represents 1% of the total diamonds that reach the market. The other 99% are in essence like premature babies, born into the world long before their color potential can be expressed in the light of the world.
Vivial picks up where nature left off. We take natural polished diamonds and expose them to the same environmental conditions of heat and pressure they are subject to in the depths of the earth to reveal their innate color.
The result: Our pioneering 14-Color Paletta™, a sparkling range of blues, greens, yellows, cognacs and on-demand special colors. It’s a one-of-a-kind phenomenon in the trade that meets a growing demand in the luxury jewelry segment for natural diamonds of impeccable quality that undergo responsible color modification.
These unique color-revealing™ capabilities are conducted through a safe repeatable process, order after order.
Our factory uses an industrial electron accelerator and our processes are both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified – a unique accomplishment, to the best of my knowledge. Similar processes and machines are used in various lines of work such as in the sterilization of food packages, chips for computers, surgery tools, electric cables and plastic pipes for hot water.
It is a safe process and is in full compliance with FDA regulations in the US market and accepted international trade practices as set forth in the CIBJO Blue Book.
Natural color, a rainbow of benefits
Availability: A wide range of colors, shapes, and sizes
Choice: Multiple colors open new horizons for women who crave variety and distinctive look
Fashion: A dream come true for luxury jewelry designers who want to stay in sync with the latest color trends
Upgrade: The process enables diamond dealers to upgrade inventory at a low cost.
The process of HPHT uses a similar method to the accelerator but pressures are much greater and difficult to control.
Let’s look at some of the differences:
- Electron Beam
- HPHT
- Control of the final result Control No control
- Type of diamonds that can be treated All types Just VS +
- Costs Low High
- Ability to order color per mm From half a point upwards No option
Jewelry manufacturers around the world appreciate the professionalism and accuracy of a process that can provide them with the security of knowing that colors and shades can be reproduced on order. Even the most pedantic manufacturers such as Japan, Switzerland and Germany place their trust in our process.
Most of the jewelry customers order color diamonds according to personal requests of shades, shapes and clarity. We supply our customers within 10 days to 4 weeks depending on the shade and the size of the order.
Moreover, we also provide our diamond wholesaler or jewelry manufacturer customers with color-revealing services. They send us their own goods, we analyze the stones and advise as to the range of colors that can be produced from each.
The source for the blue diamonds: top light brown, H up colors.
The source for the yellow colors; I-J-K-L- M non florescent!
The source for the green colors all the yellow colors.
The source for black: all types.
The color can be re treated for darker shade, but the color process is not reversible.
The source for the red /pink /purple: only in type A2
Tips for setting: to protect the integrity of the color, the temperature of the torch should not exceed 400-600 Celsius.
A final thought: If in the past only royalty could be adorned by jewelry containing a rare blue diamond, today any woman can walk into a jewelry store and leave with a ring, bracelet, necklace or earrings containing natural diamonds in beautiful, vivid color – and feel like royalty!
