Appearance
Carbon flaws can come in many different appearances. They can range in size from specks so small they can barely be seen with the a magnifying glass to spots and clusters clearly visible to the naked eye. A carbon flaw can appear as a sharply defined spot or as an amorphous cloud, like a shadow in the stone.
The appearance of a spot usually indicates an inclusion of uncrystallized carbon, whereas a cloudy carbon flaw is indicative of improper or irregular crystallization. Carbon flaws can also appear as small, fuzzy dots, somewhere between a speck and a cloud. Another common carbon flaw appears as a black shard or needle through the stone.
These flaws are regarded as undesirable in any stone, though the appearance of carbon flaws is more notable in white stones. The presence of these flaws can severely impact the value of the stone, despite it's carat weight. Most flaws that do not effect the clarity or brilliancy of the diamond are usually seen as ugly and will drive buyers away from a stone. The flaws that do effect brilliancy make it hard to sell a stone at any price.
Read more about this topic: Carbon Flaw
Famous quotes containing the word appearance:
“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 16:7.
“This mesa plain had an appearance of great antiquity, and of incompleteness; as if, with all the materials for world-making assembled, the Creator had desisted, gone away and left everything on the point of being brought together, on the eve of being arranged into mountain, plain, plateau. The country was still waiting to be made into a landscape.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“I think I am one of those who can manage not to take on a completely different appearance under their own glance.”
—Jean Rostand (1894–1977)