Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight

    Tiffany Stevens: JVC has industry’s back

    Perry’s Emporium: Sailing for success

    Perry’s Emporium: Sailing for success

    From nursing to jewelry, a WI retailer’s career conversion

    Atlanta Jewelry Show, featuring RJO, kicks off 2021 with safe, successful event

  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • What's New

    Jewelers of America announces CASE Award winners

    Jewelers Mutual® Group hires Mark Smelzer as Chief Content Executive

    Artistry, Ltd. releases new products for Spring 2021

    After a difficult year, the Israeli Diamond Industry begins 2021 with positive figures

  • Columnists
    The Retailer’s Perspective:It’s April Fool’s Day again…and again…and again

    The Retailer’s Perspective:It’s April Fool’s Day again…and again…and again

    Applied Marketing 101: The incipient end of the Airbnb Effect

    The Story Behind the Stone: Auction Action

    The Story Behind the Stone: Auction Action

    Celebrate Mom!

    5+ Digital Marketing Hacks for Jewelry Retailers on Mother’s Day

    Applied Marketing 101 video from George Prout: The Incipient End of the Airbnb Effect

    Are you losing the life blood of your business?

    The Story Behind the Stone: Provenance and Story

    The Story Behind the Stone: Provenance and Story

  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight

    Tiffany Stevens: JVC has industry’s back

    Perry’s Emporium: Sailing for success

    Perry’s Emporium: Sailing for success

    From nursing to jewelry, a WI retailer’s career conversion

    Atlanta Jewelry Show, featuring RJO, kicks off 2021 with safe, successful event

  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • What's New

    Jewelers of America announces CASE Award winners

    Jewelers Mutual® Group hires Mark Smelzer as Chief Content Executive

    Artistry, Ltd. releases new products for Spring 2021

    After a difficult year, the Israeli Diamond Industry begins 2021 with positive figures

  • Columnists
    The Retailer’s Perspective:It’s April Fool’s Day again…and again…and again

    The Retailer’s Perspective:It’s April Fool’s Day again…and again…and again

    Applied Marketing 101: The incipient end of the Airbnb Effect

    The Story Behind the Stone: Auction Action

    The Story Behind the Stone: Auction Action

    Celebrate Mom!

    5+ Digital Marketing Hacks for Jewelry Retailers on Mother’s Day

    Applied Marketing 101 video from George Prout: The Incipient End of the Airbnb Effect

    Are you losing the life blood of your business?

    The Story Behind the Stone: Provenance and Story

    The Story Behind the Stone: Provenance and Story

  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

The Story Behind the Stone: Thank you, Sir!

Diana Jarrett GG, RMV by Diana Jarrett GG, RMV
December 1, 2020
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Today the trade moves colored diamonds like nobody’s business. Every sale of naturally colored diamonds at auction seems to eclipse its previous high prices. Natural stones, referred to as fancy color diamonds, are the exclusive domain of the very deep-pocketed connoisseur. But consumers who’ve become enamored with these stunners can get their color fix too. Modern technology has produced some diamond stunners in all the colors of the rainbow at very affordable prices.

Modern HPHT treats 6.61-ct fancy brown diamond into an L color. Photo credit GIA.

In the Beginning

How did this all start? To learn more about the genesis of colored diamonds we have to dig deep into the history of one very formidable scientist, Sir William Crookes (1832-1919). This Victorian era British scholar experimented with everything – almost. Strangely enough, Crookes had little formal education when he entered Royal College of Chemistry at age 16. During his career, he independently identified Thallium (No. 81 on the periodic table). Other research included experiments with vacuum tubes, known as Crookes tubes, which eventually led to the discovery of the x-ray.

While his total body of work made immense contributions in the scientific world, gemologists and jewelers may find his experiments with diamonds to be fascinating. After the discovery of radium (1898) it soon became apparent that diamonds exposed to radium rays in the dark respond by fluorescing and scintillate in an extraordinary way. Blue-white examples, Crookes noted, responded in the most dramatic fashion.

The Diamond Phase

Sir William Crookes (1832-1919). Photo credit Wiki-Commons.

In 1909 (by some accounts 1905), Crookes toured the Kimberley mines in South Africa as a guest of De Beers on his second African trip after one in 1896. This sparked his research in the luminescence of minerals – a study he continued until his death. After his watershed visits to South Africa, Sir William Crookes wrote Diamonds, 1909. The comprehensive tome covers all firsthand topics from collecting the gems, to the Diamond Office, and noteworthy diamonds in a wide range from bort to famous diamonds to meteoric stones. Even though it’s an early work, diamond fans will enjoy reading this foundational research volume.

Crookes used a couple of Kimberley diamonds for his experiments. One was subjected to radium, the other not. After a couple weeks, no appreciable change was noted. When the exposed diamond was placed in a tube of radium bromide with the salts touching all sides for six weeks – a dark bluish green color appeared. The color change was permanent, but only “skin-deep” in color, and rendered the stones radioactive. Not so terrific. Crookes donated that stone to London’s Natural History Museum in 1916 not long before he died.

Color Everywhere

Astonishing advances have been made in the field of radiation treated colored diamonds today, including the ability to induce the current wide array of colors. In our modern era, HPHT (high pressure high temperature) has become the widely used tool for commercial use in modifying a diamond’s color. In this process, treated stones may become colorless, blue, green, yellowish green to yellow, and even the wildly popular pink tints. “Outside of a well-equipped grading laboratory,” says GIA, “this form of diamond treatment is virtually undetectable.”

An array of modern treated color diamonds. Photo credit African Diamond Council.
Diana Jarrett GG, RMV

Diana Jarrett GG, RMV

Award winning trade journalist and gemologist Diana Jarrett is a Registered Master Valuer Appraiser and a member of the Association of Independent Jewellery Valuers (AIJV). She’s a popular speaker at conferences and trade shows. Jarrett writes for trade and consumer publications, online outlets, her blog: Color-n-Ice, and www.jewelrywebsitedesigners.com. Contact her at info@dianajarrett.com, visit her website at www.dianajarrett.com, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter (Loupey).

Related Posts

The Retailer’s Perspective:It’s April Fool’s Day again…and again…and again

The Retailer’s Perspective:It’s April Fool’s Day again…and again…and again

April 1, 2021

Applied Marketing 101: The incipient end of the Airbnb Effect

April 1, 2021
The Story Behind the Stone: Auction Action

The Story Behind the Stone: Auction Action

April 1, 2021

Celebrate Mom!

March 31, 2021

Latest News

Industry Awards

Jewelers of America announces CASE Award winners

April 7, 2021
On The Move

Jewelers Mutual® Group hires Mark Smelzer as Chief Content Executive

April 7, 2021
What's New

Artistry, Ltd. releases new products for Spring 2021

April 7, 2021

Other News

After a difficult year, the Israeli Diamond Industry begins 2021 with positive figures

Soothe 3 common customer pain points with Diamond Hunt

Study of rare diamonds unlocks more of Earth’s secrets

CBG announces 2021 live event in Las Vegas

AGA Career Forum – “What Can You Do with Your Gemology?”

Jewelers Board of Trade® holds annual elections

Southern Jewelry News

© 2020 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2021 Trade Shows
  • Media Kit
  • Contact

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2020 Southern Jewelry News.