Synthetic White Diamonds (Colorless)
Making them Colorlesscarbon. If the diamond is pure carbon with no impurities, it will be completely colorless. Nearly all diamonds–mined and grown alike–have some impurities, which add color to the diamond, with nitrogen being the most common. During growth, these impurities become part of the diamond lattice and create a single-atom 'color center' based on the specific element. This color center absorbs all visible light, except one color which is reflected back, giving the diamond its color. Nitrogen creates a yellow color while boron creates a blue color.
Nearly all mined diamonds were originally yellow and contain more nitrogen than most lab-grown diamonds. Deep inside the earth over millions of years, the heat and pressure cause the single nitrogen atoms to aggregate into two, four or more atom 'color centers'. These aggregated color centers do not absorb light, allowing the diamond to keep its white appearance.
When growing a diamond, we do not have the luxury of many years to color treat our yellow diamonds to turn them white, but rather have to grow them with little to no nitrogen. While we have had colorless "D" diamonds, they come out in all colors, graded on the same scale as mined white diamonds:
Having little to no nitrogen in the diamond causes the crystal to grow very slowly and can take over two weeks to grow a rough that could cut into a one carat diamond.
Being able to control the necessary growth conditions for the length of time it takes to grow a white is what makes them the most difficult and least available color.
Whites will be cut into most popular shapes, with a majority being round brilliants, due primarily to demand and yield. Other shapes such as princess, radiant, cushion, asscher and emerald will also be available, based on production capacities. Elongated shapes such as marquise and pear typically have low yields since the size is determined by the longest dimension of the squarish rough. For this reason, elongated shapes are not normally made.
The largest that colorless diamonds can be grown is right around 1.5 carats. It is possible to grow larger sizes in the less desirable JKL colors. As the growth process is further refined, larger colors should be available in better colors, though progress is slow.
Larger sizes and better qualities are less common, but highly sought after and generally sell quickly. We provide a waiting list for diamonds. When new diamonds become available, we will let you know if there is a close match for what you are seeking.
Unfortunately, if a white diamond is not in-stock, it will most likely be awhile until we can have one for you. Contact us and we can let you know how available a particular size and quality might be.
Many people are interested in whites because they have traditionally been used for engagement rings. We encourage you to take a look at fancy yellow and brilliant blue diamonds to see if they pique your interest. We offer a lifetime trade-up as well as a 30-day no hassle return policy. A blue or yellow diamond is in many ways much more rare and unique than a white diamond.
Early speculation from years ago made the misimpression that colorless diamonds would be available by the truckload for merely dollars per carat. This however, is far from the truth. The man-made diamond industry is over fifty years old, while jewelry quality colored diamonds have only been around since the late 2000's. White diamonds have only been available in any quantity since 2012, and capacity is still a small fraction of the mined diamond production.
All AOTC-grown white diamonds are made through the HPHT treatment process, and are their as-grown, untreated colors. It is not currently possible to whiten an HPHT-grown diamond using a post-growth treatment process.
CVD diamonds usually grow with brown or black hues and must be put through an additional color treatment process to turn them near-colorless.
All synthetic white diamonds are type IIa.