Since we have our own section on diamonds, I'm putting some posts I'm moving into their own thread to keep related articles together. This one from the other forum is dated July, 2009.
GIA Adds Fluorescence Info to Diamond Reports -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 7/7/2009 9:57:00 AM
"Effective immediately, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) will include a description of a diamond’s ultraviolet fluorescence in its GIA Diamond Grading Reports and Diamond Dossiers. The Institute will use in their newly revised diamond grading reports to help better educate the public on this “common, but little understood phenomenon in diamonds,” the Institute said in a recent press release.
A separate, four-color insert chart will explain the properties of a diamond’s fluorescence in consumer-friendly terms and includes comparison images of diamonds in both natural and UV light to illustrate varying intensities of fluorescence. The five terms GIA uses to classify the intensity of the fluorescence are: None, Faint, Medium, Strong, and Very Strong."
*JCK moved this article so there is no longer a link available.
PinkDiamond ISG Registered Gemologist
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I have an affinity for diamonds that have enough fluorescence in them that it acts like bluing does on laundry, and whitens and brightens them. Too much fluorescence can affect how the diamond looks in bright light, and even cause it to appear cloudy and garishly white, but that's obviously too much fluorescence, so those diamonds aren't sought after. Out of 5 diamonds that I have that are over 3/4ct, 3 out of the 5 have a degree of blue fluorescence under UV light.
My propensity for them likely originated back in the late 60's, when my grandfather was helping my boyfriend and I pick out an engagement ring. He worked for Met Life, and knew people in the biz, and back then they were called "blue-white diamonds", and were sought after by many for that feature. ...until the 70's when investors started a trend that they were less desirable, after which the market for them slowed, and then they took another hit in the 90's and the market for the them fell like a rock.
Now this jeweler is trying to reverse that bad rap, and is telling people why they're as desirable as any other diamond, and cost less, so it will be interesting to me to see if they regain any of the popularity they once enjoyed.
Selling Diamonds with Blue Fluorescence—as a Positive By Rob Bates, News Director - Posted on June 18, 2015
"The trade has long held a bias against diamonds with blue fluorescence because—well, no one is sure why. It seems to have dated back to the 1970s investment craze, and was exacerbated by a 1993 TV show in South Korea. But even after the GIA conducted an extensive study that determined fluorescence has no consistent effect on a diamond’s appearance, the stones still have long been considered less desirable.
So, the people at Brian Gavin Diamonds figured: Why not change that from a sales killer to a selling point?
Brian Gavin Diamonds is a Houston e-tailer that grew out of a fifth-generation diamond cutter. (Gavin was once a partner in another e-tailer, Whiteflash.) According to Internet Retailer, the site sold $10.8 million online last year, enough to make its list of Top 1,000 e-tailers.
Recently, the site introduced Brian Gavin “Blue,” a brand counterintuitively built around diamonds that exhibit blue fluorescence. (“Take advantage of the fluorescence prejudice,” the site proclaims.)
The idea was hatched out of a decade’s worth of frustration over not being able to sell fluorescent stones.
“With the previous company, we used to sell branded stones with fluorescence,” says CEO and namesake Brian Gavin. “Nine times out of ten, those sales didn’t stick. Back in the early 2000s, people would walk into a jewelry store and say, ‘Can you tell me if this is OK?’ The first question is, ‘Where did you buy it?’ They’d say online. And once the jeweler saw the fluorescence, they said, ‘You don’t want it, it has fluorescence.’”
As a result, he didn’t sell those stones. But then he resolved not selling them was “ridiculous,” and decided to flip the negative rep on its ear.
“We thought, let’s find stones with blue fluorescence where there is no milkiness, where it actually makes it an advantage, so you can get it at a lower price point but you are getting a really good stone,” says Danny Gavin, vice president and director of marketing (and Brian’s son).
