Do we need to change the color to cultivate diamonds? Or more directly - is there a "right or wrong" or "good or bad" distinction in the color change of cultivated diamonds?
This is actually just the production and cultivation of diamonds, using different "process routes" and "processes", without distinction between right and wrong or good or bad. And currently, all colored cultivated diamonds must undergo color modification in order to enter the commercial field.
At present, the commonly cultivated diamonds in the domestic retail market are mainly made of CVD, and the color modification of these diamonds can be divided into "whitening" and "coloring":
To put it bluntly, the current use of ultra-high temperature and ultra-high pressure technology corrects some lattice distortions and other defects generated during the growth process, and eliminates some stress in the diamond, thereby making the diamond crystal more perfect. In terms of the lifespan of the Earth, there is basically no fading of this color change.
This process of CVD growth followed by high-temperature and high-pressure color modification, and the process of only using CVD growth, is only the difference in the process and route of artificial diamonds, and there is no essential difference in cost and process complexity. I personally believe that the price impact on the so-called retail market can be indiscriminate or negligible.
Color modification, also known as manufacturing and cultivating colored diamonds, is a process that must go through color modification. The current mainstream colors are yellow, blue, and pink. There are three main steps:
✦ Step 1:✦
Ultra high temperature and high pressure color modification, also known as HPHT color modification in the industry, is called UPUT color modification because its temperature and pressure far exceed that of conventional HPHT technology. This process is to correct lattice distortion and eliminate internal stress in the crystal.
If there are fewer nitrogen atoms in diamonds, they will become whiter, which is known as whitening. If a diamond contains a large number of N atoms, as the number of N atoms increases, the diamond will appear light yellow, light yellow, bright yellow, deep yellow, and so on. Among them, light yellow and light yellow will continue to be changed to blue and pink, while bright yellow and deep yellow will be directly promoted to the market as yellow diamonds.
This is the origin of yellow cultivated diamonds.
✦ Step 2:✦
Electron beam irradiation, also known as irradiation. But this electron beam is actually commonly used for disinfecting drugs or food, with extremely low measurement and safety. Irradiated diamonds will not have radiation. After being irradiated with an appropriate dose and energy of an electron beam, the diamond will turn blue.
This produces blue cultivated diamonds.
✦ Step 3:✦
On the basis of the first and second steps mentioned above, HPHT is used for "annealing". After this process, the diamond will turn pink. However, in terms of current process technology, it is difficult to achieve a true pink color, which will more or less have a brown or orange tone.
And the darker the color of the cultivated pink diamond, the more obvious the orange brown tone is often. At this point, there will be a significant difference in color from natural pink diamonds.
From these actual situations, cultivating diamonds with "color change" or "no color change" has little impact on their own cost, aesthetics, and quality, so consumers do not need to worry about it