Hi there, This is a question I hope to get some answers to. I am
getting mixed answers to this question. Can you successfully retip a
radited stone (diamond) without losing the color? Has anyone done
this? How?
Thanks,
Lou
ASA settings
Definitely not. I had known this for some time and so I never did
try it, but someone I used to work with did (I was no longer working
there so I couldn’t warn him) and yes, the color went bad. By the
way, perhaps it’s a spelling error, but the term is “irradiated”. I
only know of blue and green diamonds that are irradiated for color
enhancement, but I would probably not try putting heat to any colored
diamond. Perhaps there is more on this from other
members here on the forum.
David L. Huffman
Dear Lou,
The only success I’ve had with retipping irradiated colour diamonds
has been with using my water torch with the finest tip and using
presoldered platinum tips with easy gold solder. (I make these from
scrap platinum rolled thin and cut into small pallets) My first - and
only - attempt at using a regular flame ended in the bright blue
irradiated diamond turning a dull steely-grey. Wherever I can, I
unset these treated diamonds and reset after repairing. I use boracic
as a protector. Kind regards,
Rex Steele Merten
I have also heard that the black diamonds now in the marketplace are
irradiated, the black color hiding all the inclusions. Thankfully I
have no first hand experience to prove this, but I have also heard
that heating these can alter the color and make all the inclusions
jump right out. Another theory I don’t want to test is that stones
that are this badly included don’t need to be heated to begin with.
I have had to set a few, as they seem to sell fairly well in our
area, and I am wary of that, too. The inclusions are not readily
visible when setting, so I think it would be all too possible to do
some serious damage by putting too much pressure in the wrong spot,
pressure that would not normally be a problem in a decent diamond.
Jim in the mountains of NC where the rainy season seems to have
settled in to stay for a while.