PhotoScribe patent on diamond light performance goes beyond the 4Cs

May 28, 2014

PhotoScribe Technologies was granted a patent for its light performance system that goes beyond the 4Cs of cut, color, clarity, and carat weight to quantify diamond beauty and efficiency.

Gail Overton

PhotoScribe has been issued a patent for a light measurement system that quantifies the 'beauty' of a diamond. — PhotoScribe has been issued a patent for a light measurement system that quantifies the "beauty" of a diamond.

PhotoScribe Technologies (New York, NY) was granted a patent (US 8,705,018 B2) for its light performance system that goes beyond the 4Cs of cut, color, clarity, and carat weight to quantify diamond beauty and efficiency.

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The PhotoScribe light measurement system was developed as a request from the industry to fulfill the need for a true, high-quality scientific device to capture the characteristics of light behavior in diamonds, determining the efficiency of diamond performance (http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/print/volume-49/issue-11/features/mid-infrared-optics-cvd-diamond-ir-optics-enable-euv-lithography.html). The six attributes being measured in the light performance system are brilliance, fire, scintillation, contrast, optical symmetry and coverage. Definitions for each attribute are:

Brilliance: The total amount and intensity of light returned from the gemstone (that is; its efficiency).

Fire: The total amount and intensity of colored light returned from the gemstone.

Scintillation: The sparkle of a diamond. Scintillation is the rapid change of reflected light seen when the diamond is viewed in motion.

Contrast: The intensity of the bright light returned when compared to the intensity of the non-returned or black area; the higher the contrast, the more lively a diamond's appearance.

Optical Symmetry: The measurement of the balance of the pattern light returns from facets facing each other around an axis. Good optical symmetry is an indication of diamond polishing accuracy and quality. Optical Symmetry could also be affected by internal inclusions.

Coverage: The percentage of a diamond that will return light to the viewer from any angle of illumination (the opposite of leakage).

While the 4Cs of a diamond try to grade the characteristics of diamond relating to rarity, the light performance system quantifies the efficiency of a diamond’s interaction with light, which translates to measurable diamond beauty. David Benderly, CEO of PhotoScribe Technologies, says, "PhotoScribe is a company dedicated to innovations. We are focused on adding value to our customers by solving real industry challenges. The current patent is a nice validation of this effort."

PhotoScribe's patented system quantifies light behavior characteristics and those numbers are translated into grades that describe desirable diamond attributes; in other words it measures the beauty of a diamond.

SOURCE: PhotoScribe Technologies; http://www.photoscribetech.com

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.