There’s a bit on your site about fluorescence but I hadn’t thought much about it, since your price graphs only include None/Faint/Medium by default.
However I went browsing on James Allen a bit just out of curiosity and found a diamond I really liked, great cut, in my price range. Of course, the fluorescence is Strong, so I now know why it’s so cheap.
What do you think? https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.74-carat-e-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3372840
I find conflicting information online about fluorescence. Some people say “stay away”, others say you can’t tell, etc.
JA does have a good return policy so I could order it and check it out in sunlight to make sure it looks okay. Thoughts? Thanks again!
Hi Griffin, I like the diamond you’ve found. I think strong fluorescence is fine – you can take advantage of the market discount for strong fluorescence and get a good deal if the diamond isn’t hazy. And from this picture it looks crystal clear.
The reason I think strong fluorescence is fine is because I haven’t found a scientific explanation for why fluorescence would cause haziness. Not all strong fluorescent diamonds are hazy, so fluorescence is not causative, it’s only associated with haziness in some cases. There are many other potential causes of haziness (clouds, internal graining, surface graining).
My hypothesis is that strong fluorescence interacts with clouds and internal/surface graining to increase the haziness caused by these inclusions. So I generally avoid strong fluorescence in SI1/VS2 when the diamond also has clouds and/or internal/surface graining. I show none/faint/medium as a safe default because this distinction is too nuanced to explain to a person new to diamonds and I don’t have the evidence to test my hypothesis.
This 0.74 E VS1 has high clarity and doesn’t have clouds or graining. It has optimal proportions and really good symmetry. I think this diamond would be fine with strong fluorescence, so I would go for it.
