In a recent article titled “Natural-Color Green Diamonds: A Beautiful Conundrum”, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) takes an in-depth look into natural-color green stones, using “data representative of tens of thousands of samples” provided over recent years.
According to the GIA, “natural-color green stones with saturated hues are some of the rarest and most sought after” among fancy-color diamonds. These diamonds get their color either by simple structural defects produced by radiation exposure or by more complex defects involving nitrogen, hydrogen, or nickel impurities. Today, labs use advanced irradiation treatments to create green color in diamonds “and closely mimic the effects of natural radiation exposure, causing tremendous difficulty in gemological identification”.
Over the last decade, the GIA has used “careful microscopic observation, gemological testing, and spectroscopy” to reach an “unprecedented characterization of these beautiful natural stones”. The authors use the GIA’s vast database of diamond information “to offer a look at natural green diamonds that has never before been possible”.
Read the full report here
