Diamonds occur in different colors. When viewed in the face-up position colored diamonds have an outstanding body color. The most common colors for natural colored diamonds are yellow and brown while green, red and blue are among the rarest colors.
The colored diamonds occur differently depending on the color. Yellow colored diamonds, for instance, occur due to the presence of nitrogen in the environment they develop in. Blue colored diamonds, on the other hand, have boron which gives them the blue color properties. If a color is rarer, it has higher value and the color shows more intensely.
Colored diamonds are of different color intensity. Color intensity is the richness or deepens of the color and is very important when purchasing a fancy colored diamond. Diamonds with less color intensity levels are more common than diamonds with higher color intensity levels.
YELLOW DIAMONDS
Yellow diamonds are the most famous and most wide-spread among all the fancy color diamonds. They are available in a variety of shapes. Most of the quality jewelry designers often choose color diamonds yellow as part of their jewelry. In the past few decades, the use of fancy yellow diamonds has grown due to their wide accessibility. Among all other colors, a wide variety is available in them.
The cause of Color: The presence of nitrogen gas causes diamonds to lastingly bear yellow color.
Yellow Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price
| Secondary Colors: | green-yellow, brown-yellow, and orange-yellow |
| Rarity: | They are second to brown color diamonds in terms of rarity, but they are the most famous on the market. |
| Grading: | Diamond is deeming as “fancy” when a stone displays a higher color than the “Z” color grade inside the D to Z color grading scale. Yellow diamonds that show slighter color than “Z,” but more color than D-J grad diamond is known as Faint across Light Yellow: K to M faint yellow, N to R very light yellow, and S to Z Light Yellow. |
| Estimated price: | 12000 to 50000 $/ct and more for 1 ct size medium color diamonds clarity vivid or intense color. |
BROWN DIAMONDS
Brown diamonds are the most ordinary color diamonds mined worldwide as they are mined from almost every mine all over the world. They are also one of the low-cost of all the fancy colors. With the marketing drive from huge retailers, brown diamond is gaining much popularity and use in a variety of jewelry designs all over the world now due to their wide availability.
Brown Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price
| The cause of Color: | The cause of color in a brown diamond attribute to inner graining, which is caused by a structural non-uniformity in a diamond’s crystal lattice. |
| Secondary Colors: | Common secondary colors seen in brown diamonds include yellow-brown, orange-brown and pink-brown. |
| Rarity: | Brown diamonds are the most widespread fancy color diamonds mined worldwide on all continents. |
| Grading: | Brown diamond is meant to be “fancy” when a stone presents more colors than the “Z” color grade within the D-Z color grading scale. It is graded as a fancy brown, Fancy Light Brown, Fancy Dark Brown and Fancy Deep Brown. Brown diamonds that show less color than “Z,” but more color than “K” grade diamond is known as Faint across Light Brown: K to M stands for Faint Brown, N to R Very Light Brown, and S to Z – Light Brown. |
| Estimated price: | 2500 to 6000 $ per Carat and more for 1 Carat size medium color diamonds clarity with vivid or deep intense color. |
| Trade Terms: : | Gem grade brown diamonds were scarce before Australian Argyle mine productions in the 1980s, as most brown diamond is mine previously for industrial use. Using the terms “Champagne Diamonds” and “Cognac Diamonds,” dealers used to trade these stones for use in jewelry and thus made them famous. “Chocolate Diamonds” is the latest term it uses to market rare brown diamonds. |
PINK DIAMONDS
High profile pink diamonds have led several auctions in recent years and it’s the eye candy for most of the diamond investors due to its rarity. The 24.78 Carat "Graff Pink" diamond is sold at Sotheby's for $46.16 million on November 16, 2010. In 2008, a 24.78 ct intense pink diamond ring is sold for $24 million at Sotheby's. in 2013, 34.65, the Carat Fancy Prince diamond from India it is for $39 million to an anonymous bidder at Christie's. While a pink natural color diamond is expensive and rare, pink diamonds of varying Carat weights, hues and saturations are available.
Pink Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price, Mining
| The cause of Color: | The color of pink diamonds is generally considered to be caused by colored graining, which results from structural unevenness in combination with impurity. |
| Secondary Colors: | Common secondary colors available in pink color diamonds for sale include brown-pink, orange-pink, and purl-pink. |
| Rarity: | Paler pinks with secondary shades are more common than pure and intense pinks. Natural fancy pink is appreciably rare regardless of secondary colors and price accordingly higher than other color peers. |
| Grading: | Faint pink, genuine light pink, light pink, fancy light pink, fancy pink, fancy intense pink, fancy dark pink, fancy deep pink, and fancy intense pink. |
| Estimated price: | 200000 to 500000$ per Carat and more for 1 Carat size medium clarity vivid or intense color. |
| Mining : | Australia’s Argyle Diamond Mine produces most of the world’s pink diamonds, which are sold at the annual pink tender. By an estimation, Argyle produces 90% of the world’s pink diamonds |
BLUE DIAMONDS
Natural blue diamonds are exceptionally rare. And larger blue diamonds have achieved record prices at auctions in recent years. Well, in October 2010, a 10.95 Carat fancy vivid blue diamond, the Bulgari Blue broke auction records selling for $15.7 million at Christie's.
In October 2011, a 6.01 Carat fancy vivid blue diamond ring fetched $10.1 million. It set a world record price per carat for diamonds of its type sold at an auction. Blue diamonds, big and small in price according to their rarity. It is not uncommon to find stones under .25 Carats with 5-digit prices.
The Hope Blue Diamond is the most famous blue diamond in the world. GIA graded the 45.52 Carat stone as fancy deep gray-blue. The hope diamond is a rare type IIb with a unique orange-red phosphorescence.
Blue Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price
| The cause of Color: | The trace element Boron causes the color of blue diamonds. Hydrogen can also cause gray-blue color in diamonds. This is because hydrogen is generally the cause of gray and even violet colors. Greenish blue or green-blue diamonds also contain a trace of nitrogen impurities. Nitrogen causes a yellow color in diamonds. |
| Secondary Colors: | Common secondary colors in blue diamonds include greenish-blue and grayish-blue. |
| Rarity: | Natural blue diamond is particularly rare and accordingly price. |
| Grading: | Faint blue, very light blue, light blue, fancy light blue, fancy blue, deep fancy intense blue, fancy dark blue, fancy deep blue, and fancy vivid blue. |
| Estimated price: | 5,00,000 to 8,00,000 $/carat and more for 1 ct size medium clarity vivid or intense color |
GREEN DIAMONDS
Green diamonds are among the limited of all fancy colors. The most famous and largest natural green diamond is the huge 41 Carat Dresden Green. The Dresden Green is an exceptional diamond because its green color constantly distributes throughout the body of the stone.
While most green diamonds owe their color to surface "skins," the Dresden is consistently green. In December 2009, a 2.52 ct. fancy vivid green cushion-cut brilliant is sold at an auction for more than 3 million dollars or 1.2 million dollars per Carat.
Green Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price
| The cause of Color: | The cause of color in green diamonds is in most cases their natural radiation. This generates an external skin or surface of green colors. It is rare for the green color to reach deep in a diamond. Lab graders assess the natural color of green diamonds by their “skin”. |
| Secondary Colors: | Green is the color combination of blue and yellow. So common secondary colors in green diamonds include yellowish-green and bluish green. If the color is desiderata, it is grayish-green and brownish-green. |
| Rarity: | Natural green diamonds are second-most only to red diamonds as the world’s rarest fancy color. True greens devoid of secondary hue are the most widespread among natural green diamonds. |
| Grading: | faint green, very light green, light green, fancy light green, fancy green, fancy deep intense green, fancy dark green, fancy deep green, and fancy vivid green. |
| Estimated price: | 1,200,000 $/carat and more for 1 carat size medium clarity vivid or intense color. |
BLACK DIAMONDS
While huge natural black diamonds like the Black Orlov are exceptionally rare, you'll find black diamond jewelry quickly available almost everywhere. Most black diamond is treating for improved durability. Irradiate or heat-treated black diamonds will cost extensively less than untreated or colorless diamonds.
Black Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price
| The cause of Color: | Natural black diamonds are colored by dark inclusions or very high impurities. These are great in number and evenly distributed all through the stones. Many black diamonds on the marketplace are treating for even coloration and durability. |
| Secondary Colors: | Large natural black diamonds like the Black Orlov are very rare. But irradiated black diamonds are many and used in most jewelry trends and styles worldwide. In particular, the American rappers and hip hop culture made them legendary. |
| Rarity: | Natural green diamonds are second-most only to red diamonds as the world’s rarest fancy color. True greens devoid of secondary hue are the most widespread among natural green diamonds. |
| Grading: | Black diamonds are also known as fancy black with a notation of natural or treated color on laboratory reports. GIA and other noted labs do not grade black diamonds as they drop outside of their normal clarity range. The lab issues a “Colored Diamond Identification and Origin Report (CDIOR) for recognition purposes. |
| Estimated price: | 2500 to 6000 $ per Carat and more for 1 Carat size medium clarity vivid or intense color. |
RED DIAMONDS
Pure red loose diamonds devoid of secondary hues are the rarest and most prized in the world. At the 2011 Argyle Pink Diamond Tender, there was only one red diamond offered, a 0.80 Carat fancy red oval-cut.
This is a one million Carat of rough to yield a 1 Carat pink diamond it is sold at the tender. So now think how much rough is drawn out to produce a 0.80 Carat fancy red. The reddish-orange diamond of 3.15 Carat is sold at Christie’s in New York on December 10 for $2.09 million.
Red Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price, Mining
| The cause of Color: | Identical to pink and brown diamonds, the color in red diamonds is generally thought is caus color graining. This effects structural irregularities in combination with an impurity just like their pink counterparts. |
| Secondary Colors: | Red color diamonds are a combination of the colors of purple and orange. So, common secondary colors in red diamonds include orange-red, purplish-red and brownish-red. |
| Rarity: | It is the rarest color in all fancy color diamonds. And it is sold at the highest prices in the market. 5.11 Carat weight of a red diamond is the largest grad fancy red diamond in the world and sold at mysterious prices. Red color diamonds are even rarer than pink and blue color diamonds and their price is higher than all other diamond colors. |
| Grading: | Fancy Red with modifying shades. |
| Estimated price: | $1,700,000 per carat and more for 1-carat size medium clarity. |
| Mining: | Australia’s Argyle Diamond Mine produces the majority of the world’s red diamonds. |
ORANGE DIAMONDS
Pure orange diamonds are very rare, as it is more ordinary to find orange diamonds with secondary colors. Larger orange diamonds with naturally vivid color and it is sold at high prices at auctions, as they seldom appear.
In 2005, a Rare 4.19 Carat fancy vivid orange diamond ring set a world record with a price of $2.96 million. Well, the 4.19 Carat fancy vivid orange diamond is sold for a record price of $2.95 million in October 2011.
The size and intense color of the stone make it one of the finest natural orange diamonds to date. One more famous fancy intense orange diamond weighs 5.54 Carats. "Pumpkin", was own by Halle Berry at the 2002 Academy Awards.
Orange Diamond: Rarity, Grading, Price
| Secondary Colors: | Orange comes from red (pink) and yellow. These are common secondary colors in orange color diamonds, including pinkish-orange, yellowish-orange, and if the color is darker, brownish orange. |
| Rarity: | Pure orange diamonds devoid of secondary color are rare and quite costly. It is more common to find orange diamonds with secondary hues. But pure orange to date has seen only a few pieces produced. |
| Grading: | Orange diamond is grad as dim orange, Very Light Orange, Light Orange, Fancy Light Orange, Fancy Orange, Fancy Intense Deep Orange, Fancy Dark Orange, Fancy Deep Orange, and Fancy Vivid Orange. |
| Estimated price: | 1,00,000 $/carat and more for 1 carat size medium clarity. |
Diamond Colors and their meanings
| Blue: | Blue colored diamonds show spirituality, chastity, eternity devotion, truth and peace. |
| Brown: | it symbolizes clarity, stability and order. |
| Green: | Green colored diamonds symbolize prosperity, abundance, nature and youthful strength. |
| Pink: | Pink colored diamonds are a sign of power and confidence. |
| Orange: | Orange colored diamonds are a sign of enthusiasm, energy and courage. |
| Red: | Red colored diamonds are a sign of passion, strength and power. |
| Yellow : | Yellow colored diamonds are a sign of happiness, friendship, hope and humility. |
| Black : | Black colored diamonds signify purity creativity, power, energy, action and passion. |
| White : | White colored diamonds symbolize cleanliness and holiness. |
What color are diamonds?
Diamonds are available in all the colors of the rainbow. Diamonds can also be in white, gray, brown and black colors. There are other outstanding diamonds that look like they have polka dots and are said to be of the ‘salt and pepper’ color. Diamonds are available in different colors and hues.
Are colored diamonds natural?
Normally, colored natural diamonds are very rare. The ratio of colored diamonds to colorless diamonds is 10,000:1. Clearly, this shows that the chance of colored diamonds occurring naturally is very low. However, some colored diamonds develop as the stones grow naturally in millions of years. Colors like red, green and orange occur when the diamond develops and becomes of age.
Are colored diamonds expensive?
Yes, colored diamonds are more expensive than colorless diamonds. The price per carat base line is normally in thousands of dollars and any extra attributes like intense color intensity, vivid color intensity or bigger size leads to an exponential increase in the price. The most expensive colored diamond is the red diamond earrings which goes for up to $2 million dollars.
Gemone diamonds even produce high-quality natural colored diamonds bead. They are trending because of their different shades of colors and shapes.
