Black Diamond

Black Diamonds are precious and rare possessions to be cherished as they fall in the category of man made diamonds that boast of a prestigiously huge production cost. Black Diamond is in great demand for the jewellery market.

Black Diamonds are popular in three forms that include:

1. Natural color diamond/ Carbonado
2. Irradiation treated diamond
3. Heat-treated under high temperature

Carbonado is characterized as a natural polycrystalline diamond that has its origin in the alluvial deposits in the Central African Republic and Brazil. This diamond appears black and is highly permeable and is used for diamond maneuvers. Carbonado being a natural polycrystalline diamond comprises no mantle-derived enclosures and its carbon isotope value is very low. It occurs in asymmetrical or rounded fragments and is rarely distinctly crystallized but reveals a strong luminescence induced by nitrogen content of the crystal and by openings existing in the crystal trellis. This feature is due to the radioactive process that existed in the formation process of carbonado. The source of natural black color is black colored elements such as graphite or iron minerals.

The mounting demand for black diamond required securing of the precious material; the natural phenomenon was substituted with artificial irradiation treated diamond. This diamond is the outcome of the process in which irradiation of neutron is executed in an atomic reactor. Although the resultant material appears black, it is actually deep green and it is not difficult to distinguish this from natural color stones.

The stones used for the irradiation process were originally natural diamonds of very poor quality - single crystals or white to grey polycrystalline crystals which turned black color by being heated in high temperature (HT) under condition of little oxygen to graphitize partly.

The high temperature (HT)-treated “black” diamonds consists of needle-like black components that serve as the identifying feature of natural black diamond. The black components are in irregular shape and are scattered inside a natural black diamond.

The black diamonds are becoming more popular due to marketing tactics. They are used like incarnations on different piece of jewelries. These diamonds are highly priced due to their production process. Regardless of the price, these diamonds are still in demand for the unconventional black attire.