What is an Irradiated Fancy Color Diamond?
When a diamond is chemically pure, it has no visible color. Chemically Pure or Colorless diamonds are very rare. The majority of diamonds gain some form of impurity during the crystallization process. During the birth of a diamond in nature, it can gain trace amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen or boron during the process. The resulting rough diamonds will appear yellow or brown in color when cut and polished. If the diamond contains enough of these foreign elements, it becomes a fancy colored diamond. Naturally occurring fancy colored diamonds are very rare, and therefor very expensive. However, the majority of diamonds contain just enough of the trace elements to tint the stone a yellow or brownish color. This is where the irradiation of diamonds comes in. Irradiation is a treatment process by which a person in a laboratory finishes the job which nature only started. Our diamonds are colored using a process called ion (or neutron and electron) bombardment. Depending on the outcome of the b
