Patent Publication Number: US-2009229308-A1

Title: Highly included diamond jewelry

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/069,437 filed Mar. 14, 2008 in the name of Punit MEHTA and entitled “HIGHLY INCLUDED DIAMOND JEWELRY”, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is generally directed to jewelry, and, more particularly, to jewelry which comprises so-called “highly included” diamonds. 
     Generally, diamond clarity is a quality of diamonds relating to the existence and visual appearance of internal characteristics of a diamond called inclusions, and surface defects called blemishes. Inclusions may be crystals of a foreign material or another diamond crystal, or structural imperfections such as tiny cracks that can appear whitish or cloudy. In short, “inclusions” are mineral spots, which are dispersed inside diamonds, which blur and interfere with the light reflection thereof The number, size, color, relative location, orientation, and visibility of inclusions can all affect the relative clarity of a diamond. The appearance of diamonds which contain a large number of such inclusions, i.e., “highly included diamonds”, is such that they are not usually acceptable for use in diamond jewelry. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a general object of the present disclosure to provide a system and method that permits the use of highly included diamonds in jewelry. 
     The present disclosure introduces the novel concept of utilizing black rhodium on and around the setting of diamonds, in a manner which enhances the beauty of the “included diamonds”, such as to make them acceptable for use in jewelry. 
     The black rhodium absorbs the light directed at the diamond and also reflects and refracts the darkness into the gemstones, blurring the inclusions and giving the appearance of a grey diamond. By the process described below, the present inventor has made it possible to utilize included diamonds, which look like clear diamonds with scattered black spots that are not easily sold at the retail level in jewelry, to thereby become staple gemstones that can be used in diamond jewelry. 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a prior art diagram illustrating the various features of a round diamond. 
         FIG. 2  shows a highly included diamond. 
         FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  are side views and top views, respectively, of a highly included diamond. 
         FIGS. 4   a - 4   e  are photographs of various jewelry designs, wherein each photograph provide a side by side comparison of jewelry pieces with ordinary and included diamonds, where the photograph at the left of each figure illustrates the implementation of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a typical prior art diamond includes a crown portion  2 , a pavilion portion  4 , a table  6  located at the top of the crown, a girdle  8  separating the crown and the pavilion. The pavilion has slanted sides, which direct, reflect and refract ambient light into the diamond, whereby the various faceting and crystalline nature creates a brilliance and a kaleidoscope of light emanating from the crown portion. An example of a typical highly included diamond is shown in  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b.    
     Diamond jewelry usually comprises gemstones such as diamonds mounted in so-called “settings”. A setting is a metallic base, often of gold, in which the diamond is set, usually in openings or cavities, and held in place by prongs or through invisible mounting or as otherwise known in the field. 
     In other words, a setting is a base in which diamonds are set. Typically, the base is made of a precious metal (either solid or plated), e.g., silver, gold or platinum. However, non-precious metals, for example, stainless steel may also be used as a setting. 
     Rhodium is a hard and durable metal that has a high reflectance. Rhodium metal does not normally form an oxide, even when heated. It has a higher melting point and a lower density than platinum. Rhodium is typically naturally silvery white and has been used in the jewelry trade and for decorations. It is typically electroplated on white gold or platinum to give it a reflective white surface. This is known as rhodium flashing in the jewelry trade. Rhodium may also be used in coating sterling silver in order to strengthen the metal and to prevent tarnish. 
     The present disclosure capitalizes on the availability of black rhodium.  FIG. 2  shows a highly included diamond  12  having various mineral spots  14 . Included diamond  12  includes a crown  16  having a certain height H and an angle α, a table  18  located at the top of the crown  16  and having a certain diameter d, a pavilion  20  having a plurality of inclined sides  22 , a depth h and an angle β, and a girdle  24  separating the crown from the pavilion. As shown diagrammatically in  FIG. 2 , the highly included diamond  12  is set in the jewelry setting  26 . Black rhodium is utilized in the production and manufacturing of jewelry setting  26  by coating the top portion of the setting with a layer of black rhodium  28 . After the highly included diamond  12  is set in the setting  26 , the portion of the setting coated with the black rhodium is preferably located adjacent the topmost portion of the pavilion  20  and immediately below the girdle  24 . 
     It is not necessary to coat the entire base of the setting with black rhodium. Rather, either the entirety or selected portions can be coated with the black or dark colored rhodium. Additionally, as shown in  FIGS. 4   c - 4   e,  to create an additional visual effect, some portions of a jewelry article having highly included stones may be left without the black rhodium coating. 
     Of significance herein is that by coating the setting with the layer of black rhodium, the black rhodium functions as a light absorber, which absorbs the otherwise very bright light, which would be reflected or refracted inside the diamond pavilion, and from there into the table. In this manner, only a portion of the ambient light or a lower level of light intensity is reflected inside the diamond gemstone. In fact, the black base reflects through the diamond which gives the general appearance of a grey diamond. At the same time, the reduced lighting or darkness inside the stone blurs the inclusions and creates a more sparkling overall look, which masks and hides the mineral spots, i.e., inclusions, inside the diamonds. 
     Various implementations of black rhodium applied to differently-shaped settings are shown in  FIGS. 4   a  through  4   e.    
     In general, it should be noted that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the specific description herein and that other coatings which absorb the light reflection into the pavilion and table of the diamonds may be utilized. Also, it may be so that the gold setting itself may be structured in a way that blocks the light into the pavilion to blur the presence of the inclusions. Nor is the present disclosure limited to the use of white diamonds which contain inclusions. That is, the concept of the invention is easily extendible to other gemstones, as well as to different colored diamonds and diamonds that have other flaws or imperfections that need to be blurred to improve the overall appearance of the sparkle of the jewelry, as viewed from above. 
     Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein.