Should I buy a diamond with strong blue fluorescence?
I've received quite a few email inquiries lately from people wondering whether they should buy a diamond with strong blue fluorescence, or very strong blue fluorescence, so I thought that I would address this concern via a blog post.
Blue fluorescence within diamonds, like the fluorescence which is visible within the diamond pictured to the left from the Brian Gavin Blue collection, occurs due to the presence of boron molecules within the diamond. We exposed the diamond to black light in a completely black room in order to take this picture, under normal lighting circumstances the diamond will look perfectly normal. The gemological laboratories indicate the fluorescence level of a diamond because it is an identifying characteristic.
What are the different levels of fluorescence?
Diamonds which exhibit levels of fluorescence between none to not enough to measure accurately, are described by the GIA as having a fluorescence level of "none" and by the AGSL as having negligible fluorescence. These diamonds will not appear to change color when examined under black light in a pitch black room.
The term "Faint" is used by both the GIA and AGSL to describe levels of fluorescence which are barely visible when the diamond is examined under the controlled light of a GIA Diamond Light or the equivalent thereof. If no color is specified, it is generally understood that the color of the fluorescence will be blue, however other colors of fluorescence do exist.
The term "medium blue" is used by both the GIA and AGSL to describe levels of blue fluorescence which are clearly visible when the diamond is exposed to black light, the intensity is mid-range.
The term "strong blue" is used by both gemological laboratories to describe levels of blue fluorescence which are clearly visible when the diamond is exposed to black light, the intensity will be stronger in appearance.
The term "very strong blue" is used by both gemological laboratories to describe diamonds which exhibit a distinctly strong level of fluorescence when the diamond is exposed to black light.
How does blue fluorescence affect a diamond?
Generally speaking, blue fluorescence within a diamond is merely an identifying characteristic which can be used to help identify the diamond. However blue fluorescence can also help to boost the body color of a diamond in stronger intensities when it is exposed to strong ultra violet light, such as intense sunlight.
I've heard people say that strong blue fluorescence or very strong blue fluorescence in a diamond with warmer body color, such as a K-L-M color diamond, will make the diamond look whiter, but this is not entirely true... it can help the diamond to look whiter than a diamond of the same color grade, when the diamond is exposed to strong ultra violet light, but it's not going to make it look whiter all the time.
In addition, it's not going to make a K-color diamond look like a J-color diamond, it's more likely to make a K-color diamond look like a K-color diamond on the high end of the range for that color, towards the J-color side of the scale, as opposed to possibly being on the L-color side of the scale for the range of color which represents the range for K-color.
Brian Gavin Blue vs Blue Fluorescent Diamonds:
Every diamond featured within the Brian Gavin Blue collection has been cut to the strict standards set by Brian Gavin and personally evaluated by him to ensure that it exhibits the visual properties that people have come to expect from a Brian Gavin diamond.
Each diamond is graded by the AGSL with an overall cut grade of AGS Ideal-0 on the Proprietary Light Performance grading platform, and has proportions which are within the center of the range designated for the zero ideal cut proportions rating, which means that it has been optimized to maximize the volume of light return and the sparkle factor.
You'll see the results of the proprietary Angular Spectrum Evaluation Technology (ASET) used by the AGSL to grade the brightness of our diamonds, in the graphic provided in the center of each diamond quality document provided on the diamond details page. Fewer than 1% of all round brilliant cut diamonds produced in the average year can hold up to this test and obtain an overall cut grade of AGS Ideal-0.
We also provide a photograph on the diamond details page of how each diamond looks through our own ASET Scope (licensed by the AGSL) and an Ideal Scope, which is used to demonstrate the degree of light leakage which is present within the diamond... all diamonds leak light to some extent, but those which are not cut with a high degree of optical symmetry leak considerably more light.
