Should I worry about clarity-enhanced diamonds?

Yes, you should worry about clarity-enhanced diamonds, but not because they're fake. They are real diamonds. The worry is about what was done to them and how long the fix actually lasts.

In this trade, "clarity enhanced" usually means one of two things: laser drilling or fracture filling. The first is manageable. The second is the one I tell clients to avoid for rings.

Laser drilling is the smaller worry

A laser drill hole is exactly what it sounds like. A technician uses a laser to burn a tiny channel from the surface to a dark inclusion, then acid dissolves the inclusion. The hole stays. GIA reports note it on the plot, and the price should be lower than an untreated stone's.

I've set laser-drilled diamonds when the hole is small, away from the girdle, and not sitting under a prong tip. For an engagement ring, I still want the client to know it's there. Most of the time the stone is stable. Not always. Multiple drill holes near the girdle can make a diamond more likely to chip, and I don't love that for a ring that gets worn daily.

Fracture filling is the real issue

Fracture filling uses a glass-like filler injected into a feather to make it less visible. The filler has a refractive index close to diamond's, so the inclusion fades. The treatment is not permanent. Heat, thermal shock, ultrasonic cleaning, or a fresh polish can all damage or remove the filler.

Last March a woman named Ellen brought in an emerald-cut diamond that looked clean to the naked eye, and she wanted me to retip one prong that had worn thin, a pretty standard job. I put it under the microscope and saw the telltale flash of fracture filler along the feather, right where the new prong was going to sit. That stopped the job. The heat from retipping could have melted the filler and made a nearly invisible stone look cloudy, and I wasn't going to risk it.

That is the problem no one explains when they sell you the stone. You're not just buying a diamond with a lower clarity grade. You're buying a stone that needs special handling for the rest of its life, and you may not remember to warn the next jeweler who works on it.

What to ask before you buy

If a seller describes a diamond as clarity enhanced, ask directly if the stone is laser drilled or fracture filled. Ask for the lab report. GIA reports will note laser drill holes. Fracture filling gets flagged as a treatment, and GIA will not grade the clarity the way it would for an untreated stone. If the report doesn't say, assume the worst and have an independent appraiser look at it.

A clarity-enhanced diamond is cheaper up front, sometimes 30 to 40 percent less than a comparable untreated stone, but that discount is not a bargain when the treatment itself is the reason the price is lower. On resale, the discount gets worse. Most buyers won't touch a fracture-filled stone, so you'll be offered very little.

Would I sell one? Maybe as a pendant for a client on a tight budget who understands the stone may not look the same in five years. Not as an engagement ring. Not as a daily-wear ring. Walk away if the seller won't answer the treatment question. That is not negotiable.

If you already own one

No ultrasonic. No steam. Warm water, mild soap, and a soft brush only. Before any sizing, retipping, or polishing, tell your jeweler the stone is clarity enhanced. Some shops won't work on fracture-filled diamonds. They're not being difficult. The risk is real, and no repair is worth destroying a stone you paid real money for.

You don't have to feel foolish if you already own one. The treatment was marketed hard for years, and plenty of honest people bought them without knowing. Just don't sink more money into a setting that outlasts the stone's appearance. A simple solitaire is easier to service than a pavé halo with eighteen tiny prongs around a treated center.

I'd much rather you buy a smaller untreated diamond or a clean lab-grown stone than a larger treated diamond that only looks good until the filler fails. The stone in the box is not the stone you'll have in ten years. That's the part the brochure doesn't show you.