Black Diamonds: Gift from Outer Space
Yes, black diamonds are real. Rare, but they do exist.
A black diamond is a carbonado, or “an impure form of polycrystalline composed of diamond, graphite, and carbon.” This means that it gets its darkness from the number of inclusions—clusters of graphite, that stuff used in pencil leads—inside it. Conversely, a white diamond has few inclusions.
A black diamond in its raw state isn’t particularly attractive. It generally looks like a piece of burned-out coal, rough and dark. Once polished and faceted, however, that changes. A black diamond appears opaque because, like anything black, it absorbs color, any light reflected back usually look as if it’smerely coming from the surface of its facets.
There are three types of black diamonds:
Natural (Fancy Blacks, no explanation needed there.)Treated (regular white diamonds with too many inclusions are treated with radiation, high pressure, and chemicals to make them darker.)Manmade or synthetic…View original post 1,308 more words
