Last Updated on 6th July 2015
If you are considering buying a black diamond engagement ring for your future wife there is no doubt that you want to give her a very special ring. A black diamond ring for women could be such a very special ring combined with a somewhat bold message!
You future wife will definitely stand out wearing a black diamond engagement ring. A black diamond has something mysterious and mesmerizing about it. The color black is also associated with passion, certainty, strength and power.
The downside of a black diamond is that you don’t get to have the usual brilliance, sparkle and scintillation that usual diamonds are known for. However, black diamonds have a very glowing luster of their own. A black diamond paired by two white diamonds in a three-stone ring setting can furthermore exude a taste of noble elegance and a certain superiority.
Black diamonds are real diamonds but there are natural black diamonds and treated black diamonds. Whether you prefer to have a natural or treated black diamond will mainly be a matter of budget and how smooth you want the surface of the black diamond to be. I will explain to you why.
Natural black diamonds
A black diamond is basically a fancy colored diamond with a very special midnight color. Black diamonds occur very rarely in nature and in fact they are even the rarest of all fancy colored diamonds. They can only be found in Brazil and in parts of the Central African Republic.
For this reason there are serious scientists that believe that black diamonds have an extraterrestrial origin. According to a study of the Florida International University published in 2006 by Jozsef Garai and Stephen Haggerty the chemical properties of natural black diamonds indicate that the stones must have been formed in a supernova explosion that took place before our solar system was formed. Wow!
Like regular diamonds, black diamonds consist of crystallized carbon but the difference in black diamonds is that the crystalline structure is multi-layered and denser. This crystalline structure of black diamonds is also called “carbonado”. The black color itself stems from innumerable inclusions of iron oxides and mainly graphite.
However, natural black diamonds are very brittle and have a porous structure. For this reason natural black diamonds are extremely hard to cut and polish. Furthermore, most natural black diamonds have colorless streaks which cause surface imperfections inside the diamond. Regarding the light performance the buyer does have to be aware that the light in a black diamond is not refracted but largely absorbed.
Therefore, natural black diamonds rarely look smooth or completely even in their color distribution as you can see in the following instances:
Such imperfections are embraced in natural black diamonds as part of their inherent beauty.
Of course, it is still possible to find natural black diamonds which do not have any of these imperfections but they are exceedingly rare and hard to find.
Treated black diamonds
The overwhelming majority of diamonds sold as black diamonds are treated (enhanced) black diamonds. In reality these are just normal low-colored diamonds that are treated in such a way that they become black. There are two ways to do this:
The diamond can either be irradiated so that the structure of the crystals is altered and the diamond turns black. Or a diamond could also be heated to extreme temperatures so that a blackening graphite residue is created within the diamond. Please note that such a treated black diamond is still a real diamond! It has only been treated in such a way that it appears black.
The advantage of buying an enhanced black diamond is that it is much cheaper than a natural black diamond. Furthermore, the diamond structure is not as porous as in a natural black diamond so that you will be much more likely to find a black diamond with a smooth surface:
How to choose a black diamond?
You will have to make a decision whether you would rather prefer to have a natural black diamond or a treated black diamond.
This will be a matter of several considerations. Is it important for you to be able to say that you have a really natural black diamond? And are you willing to pay a high premium price for that? Or are you fine with knowing that you have a real diamond in your hand that was only treated in a certain way so that it looks black? And is it an issue to you that a natural black diamond can be visibly porous and imperfect?
First, you have to know that reputable grading laboratories like GIA or AGS do not issue diamond grading reports on treated diamonds. Whenever you find a GIA or AGS grading report accompanying a black diamond you can be sure that it must be a natural black diamond.
You do have to be aware though that the grading reports for black diamonds are extremely abbreviated compared to regular diamond grading reports. As a black diamond is simply black there is no clarity grade to be issued for the diamond. And because a black diamond mostly absorbs all the light there would be no point in giving a cut grade for a black diamond. Due to its nature it will not have any of a classic diamond’s light performance anyway.
For black diamonds GIA only issues so called “Identification and Origin Reports”. These reports basically contain no valuable information apart from the carat weight. This is a very deep contrast compared to GIA’s usual grading reports:
As the grading report does not provide you any relevant information I recommend that you go examine a black diamond as closely as you can before buying it: You especially want to make sure that the black diamond is as consistently opaque as possible. Try to go for black diamonds that do not have any transparent spots. And try to make sure that the diamond is not that porous if you go for a natural black diamond.
Where to buy a black diamond ring for women?
Now, usually I would recommend to check out James Allen because they offer high definition 360 ° videos of all their diamonds! However, although James Allen offers a wide variety of fancy colored diamonds, black diamonds can only rarely be found there!
I have found that Leibish & Co. which is specialized in fancy colored diamonds has a wide variety of black diamonds to offer. And in general I think that they are offering good deals. Most importantly, many of their diamonds can also be viewed in 360 ° which is a super useful feature to make out the nature of a natural black diamond! And all of their black Diamonds are natural diamonds. Go and check out Leibish & Co. to see the beauty of black Diamonds.