What is a Black Diamond? (Definition, Cost, Sourcing)
Black diamond, this sounds like an oxymoron right? How can a jewel that is judged on the quality of its light reflection not actually reflect light? That’s a good question. We’ll explain this and also why you will love owning this stone below.
Black diamonds in jewelry
Black diamonds are dramatic if they are paired with white diamonds. Like a bow tie is to a tuxedo, the white flash of a high quality diamond is significantly enhanced with the offset of a black stone, particularly another diamond. The white-black diamond combination works on just about any type of fine jewelry, from an engagement ring to diamond earrings and every piece in between.
Natural vs. treated black diamonds
We’re going to go out on a limb here – you should buy color-enhanced (aka treated) black diamonds, not natural ones. Whoa?!? WHY you ask? Because a natural black diamond is as rare as hen’s teeth, more fragile and not nearly as consistent in color or surface quality as a treated stone. This is because in order for a diamond to be truly black it must contain a large deposit of inclusions (mainly graphite), which weaken the stone and doesn’t limit itself to just under the surface, making cutting and polishing tricky.
Treated black diamonds are not really black, but a dark, dark green. The fact is, dark green just sits better in a diamond than black. The eyes can’t tell the difference the way they can with say, navy blue, (click here to see several great examples of black diamonds for sale from renowned online discount diamond jeweler James Allen’s website. Look closely at the color and you may be able to see a hint of green, but we challenge anyone who does not know to look for it to actually spot it on his/her own).
Treated black diamonds also are less expensive…
Treated black diamonds cost far less than regular diamonds. The reason is that when you buy your diamond piece, ordinarily you optimize for the best bling for the buck (i.e.. clarity, color, and cut). When you buy a treated black diamond, you don’t care about either clarity or color, so you can go pretty far down the line on those two C’s and beef up on the other 2C’s (carat weight and cut) and still come out way ahead. A one carat treated black diamond on the James Allen website runs about $1.8k.
Where to get black diamonds?
If you are going to the diamond district, then we recommend Diamond Envy, a Jewelers.NYC Top 10 rated jeweler. (click here to go to their black diamond inventory).
If you are buying online then we recommend James Allen: A+ rated and our #1 recommended online Diamond Store for 2017. Click here for James Allen’s black diamond online inventory.