Dispersion, or fire, is the rainbow colors we sometimes see emanating from deep with a finely cut gem. You’ll often hear jewelers use the word when discussing diamonds, but other well-cut gems can also have this quality and even exceed the fire of a diamond. The dispersion effect is caused when white light, traveling at different speeds, enters the stone, separates into the spectral colors of the rainbow, and then bounces back. Every gemstone has its own dispersion value, but that value is affected by the stone’s cut, size, body, color and shape.
