What are Clarity Enhanced Diamonds, Should you buy them?

When selecting a diamond, it is imperative to understand its four C’s. They play a major role in deciding which diamond gets a place in your collection. Clarity, Cut, Color, and Carat make for the four C’s. 

Let’s understand what Clarity is about. Often diamonds have dents, blemishes, or some kind of imperfection. The clarity of a diamond is about the elimination or absence of the varied kind of imperfections.

What are Clarity Enhanced Diamonds?

Clarity-enhanced diamonds are those which undergo treatments and repairs to improvise the blemishes and dents that the diamonds have. There are two methods of clarity enhancement. The methods are ‘laser drilling’ and ‘fracture filling’. One thing that should be noted is that the diamonds that are enhanced just have the fixtures ‘filled’ and not replaced or changed. 

It is mandatory for the salesperson or jeweler to inform if the diamond belongs to the category of ‘clarity enhanced diamonds’ upon purchase.

The laser drilling technique is used when the diamond has dark spots or blemishes. These natural dark spots reduce the clarity of a diamond. A laser beam is drilled. With the passage of the tunnel, the spots are eliminated. It should be noted that though effective this technique can make a diamond and its structure extremely fragile. If there are quite a few drills, then it may lead the diamond to break. 

The fracture filling technique literally involves a substance that is used to hide the flaws in a diamond. The substance is actually crystal clear and glass-like resin. It is injected into the diamond and it fills up the spaces and cracks where required. Once settled, the faults and cracks are invisible to the eye. This method is not a permanent solution. It is possible for the filling to melt or the cracks to fall apart. It is possible to redo the fracture filling however, it may not reduce the spots as clearly as the first setting. 

Factors that Affect Clarity Enhanced Diamonds:

1. Exposure to heat or fire
2. Exposure to boiling acid.
3. The jeweler’s torch.
4. Exposure to chemicals.
5. Re-cutting ruins a clarity enhanced diamond.

Pros & Cons of Clarity Enhanced Diamonds:

FAQs

Are Enhanced Diamonds Graded in the same way as Mined or Lab-Grown Diamonds?

Diamonds are graded based on their quality and value by institutions like the Gemological Institute of America. Diamonds that undergo clarity enhancement do not get graded by the GIA as these methods of enhancement are not the final solution. They are not permanent, making the grade unnecessary and meaningless.

The color and clarity cannot be assessed properly and hence, the grade is difficult to be granted. The GIA however, specifies clearly the reason why a diamond has not been graded to maintain transparency.

Should you buy Clarity Enhanced Diamonds?

Items like diamonds are not a regular purchase but an investment. Surely, some people are on a budget but this has to be looked at from a long-term investment point of view, Diamonds that are authentic should be bought.

It is also not desirable as the GIA does not even pass a grade for such diamonds. This is also a major reason to not consider such diamonds. 

These diamonds are attractively priced but do not give the feel of an actual diamond. Imagine going to a party and being constantly worried about your diamond getting damaged. Where is the fun in that? Instead, you should have bragging rights upon purchasing a diamond and not worry lines. Something which can be achieved with the purchase of lab-grown diamonds.

If you need a solution to the problem of budget, then you can opt for lab-grown diamonds which are much better and much better in clarity as they do not require any treatments to enhance the features.