Black Diamonds

[sixdogs]

Watching the tube this evening, I saw a commercial for a pair of earrings set with black diamonds.
I remember back in the late 80's early 90's when the Diamonds were irradiated to turn them black.
They came out very pretty, as you can see in their advertisement.
Only problem was they were too hot(highly irradiated) to sell,
so they were locked away in a vault.
Seeing them being marketed makes me think of two possibilities...
1: the radiation has cooled enough to allow them to be sold.
2: they're still hot, but the greedy bloodsuckers want a return on their investment
and really don't care if the diamonds are a potential hazard for radiation poisoning.

Caveat Emptor...

 

[ralph]

I've seen and used black diamonds in a machine shop. Mounted in a metal holder they're used to dress (evenly smoothe) grinding wheels(which wear unevenly). We called them industrial diamonds,and are lower quality and cheaper than typical jewelry diamonds. They're used in many ways in manufacturing cutting(diamond blades) grinding, polishing (diamond dust for polishing diamonds) and other uses. Me thinks what you saw was marketing hype.

 

[therick]

n/t

 

[sixdogs]

Y'all are confusing industrial diamonds/bort with gem stones.
The stones being offered are gem quality diamonds that
have been irradiated to change the colors, NOT industrial
quality stones.

therick, as a "certified diamond appraiser" you should
know this. GIA put a notice out about these stones
around 20 years ago. it is the same technique that
is used to enhance topaz and other gems stones.

sixdogs: gemologist/lapidary/whitesmith.

 

[therick]

n/t