The black diamond occupies a singular place in fine jewellery. Mysterious, contemporary, resolutely avant-garde, it attracts a clientele seeking to transcend traditional codes.
Two Very Different Types of Black Diamond
A fundamental distinction separates the mined black diamond from the lab-grown black diamond — and it is one that is frequently overlooked.
The mined black diamond is in reality a very low-quality diamond, so heavily laden with inclusions that the stone becomes opaque and black. Its value is modest.
The lab-grown black diamond, however, is an entirely different stone. It is a blue diamond of such intensity — the boron concentration is so high — that it appears black to the naked eye. But placed before an intense light source, its deep blue reflections reveal themselves — a secret beauty that only those who know how to look can perceive.
The Complexity of Its Production
For a long time, it was impossible to produce a gem-quality black diamond in the laboratory. The simplest of all diamonds to mine was paradoxically the most complicated to create. It is only recently that CVD techniques have achieved the mastery required to control boron concentrations high enough to obtain a blue so deep it appears black.
This technical difficulty makes the lab-grown black diamond more costly than the mined black diamond — and far more precious in every sense of the word.
A Contemporary Aesthetic
The black diamond fits perfectly within contemporary fine jewellery. Its chromatic depth creates a striking contrast with white or yellow gold. On tanned skin as on fair skin, it asserts its presence with a dark and sophisticated elegance that few other stones can match.