Above is the Diamond-Type Spotter with the SSEF High-Intensity Shortwave Illuminator

What Is The SSEF Diamond-Type Spotter?

The spotter is a cylindrical, pocket-size instrument that is used in conjunction with a shortwave ultraviolet lamp. It has an opening on the top, surrounded by a ring of plasticene (silly putty), and an opening at the front. At the base of the front opening, you will notice that a white coating has been applied. This is a special coating that fluoresces green when exposed to short-wave ultraviolet—the "white" coating is no longer "white" but becomes greenish. When checking a colorless, near-colorless, pink or blue diamond with the diamond type-spotter, whether or not the coating becomes green when you are testing a stone will indicate whether or not you have a diamond type that might have been HPHT -treated to create the color you are seeing. In the case of a colorless or near-colorless diamond, whether or not the coating becomes green indicates whether or not the diamond might be synthetic.

As you begin using the SSEF Diamond Type-Spotter to test colorless and near-colorless diamonds, you will soon see that most of the time the diamond is not a type could have been treated by the HPHT or synthesized, and you’ll know you don’t have to worry, nor incur the costs of laboratory testing. In those cases where it is a type that might have been HPHT-treated or synthesized, you will need to conduct one more simple test – you must check the fluorescent reaction of the stone under both shortwave and longwave – to determine whether or not it is synthetic. If synthetic, no further testing is needed. If natural, then you will know that you must send the stone to a major laboratory in order to know for sure. Since the spotter will usually indicate the diamond is not one of the rare types that can be improved by HPHT techniques, this simple screening test will save you lots of time, money, and needless concern where most colorless and near-colorless diamonds are concerned.

What are you testing when you use a SSEF Diamond-Type Spotter?

When you test a stone with the SSEF spotter, you are actually testing the shortwave transparency of the stone; that is, whether or not it transmits shortwave radiation (SWUV) through the stone. Some diamond "types" transmit SWUV while others do not. There are basically four diamond "types"—Type Ia and Ib and Type IIa and II b—but the rare types that can be transformed by HPHT techniques to create colorless, near-colorless, pink and blue diamonds do transmit shortwave. Other diamond types do not. NOTE: if testing an untreated, brownish-tinted diamond that does transmit SWUV, there is a possibility that HPHT techniques could transform the color into a fancy pink or blue. In such cases, testing the diamond with the SSEF electrical conductivity meter can be useful: if the diamond is electrically conductive, then it contains boron and HPHT treatment could result in a blue color. If not electically conductive, HPHT will result in a color within the near-colorless to colorless range, or fancy pink.

Near colorless diamonds are also being produced today by single-crystal chemical vapor deposition techniques (CVD). These synthesized diamonds are also one of the rare types, Type IIa.

Most diamonds are Type "I" diamonds—those in the "cape" or "canary" series. Most naturally colorless and near-colorless diamonds are Type I, as are natural fancy-yellow diamonds. Type I diamonds do not transmit SWUV (they absorb it). The color of some Type I diamonds can be transformed from tinted, undesirable shades into more desirable colors using HPHT techniques, but they do not produce colorless, near-colorless, pink or blue stones.

Type II diamonds are much rarer than Type I diamonds. They can occur naturally in colorless and near-colorless shades, as well as "fancy" pink and blue. And today Type II diamonds can be produced synthetically. Both natural and synthetic Type II diamonds can also be very tinted, usually exhibiting a strong brownish tint. Type II diamonds do transmit SWUV (they cannot absorb it) and these stones can be transformed by HPHT techniques into colorless, near-colorless, pink and blue colors. Thus, it is the type II diamonds that are of greatest concern in the diamond industry. NOTE: the HPHT treatment removes the brown tint, which results in a more "colorless" shade, or in the case of pink and blue diamonds, a purer or more vivid color. In the case of pink and blue diamonds, it does not add color, but simply makes the pink or blue more visible by eliminating the brownish undertone that was masking the stone’s inherent color.

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