A lot of people think most diamonds are white or colorless and that a colorless diamond is more beautiful and valuable. Many diamonds have at least a trace of body color such as faint yellow, brown, green and gray. It is true that slight traces of color in diamonds can take away some of the beauty and lower the value. Body color is the color of a diamond as seen in softened light against a neutral background and free from surrounding reflections. But intense color is an asset. Diamonds with intense color are called fancy colored diamonds. Diamond experts can observe each distinctive color of these crystals. They use a letter scale of D-Z. Scale “D” is a colorless body color and scale “Z” includes visible body color. When fancy colored diamonds are graded, they are viewed in a face-up position and not set in jewelry. Faint, Very light, Fancy light, Fancy, Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid are terms used to describe the strength of color.
Natural fancy colored diamonds are formed in the exact way as colorless diamonds. The value depends mostly on how pure the color is and how deep the stone’s hue is. Some natural colored diamonds have several colors blended together which supplies more shade to the stone. Usually there is a dominant color with different underlying colors. Diamonds with several colors together are not as valuable as diamonds with one pure color. Color is so important in fancy colored diamonds that it even exceeds carat weight and clarity.
Trace amounts of nitrogen cause the yellow color in diamonds. A diamond will sparkle and shine more if it is white because more light can pass through it. A bright yellow diamond called the Fancy Yellow Canary diamond is the only yellow diamond that has as much value as the white diamond. Fancy light yellow, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow and Fancy Vivid Yellow are the four color grades of Fancy Yellow. The price is higher as the shades deepen.
Natural radiation of the earth and possibly uranium is why a diamond turns green. Radiation stains of brown or green is usually how a green diamond can be recognized as having natural color. This type of diamond is extremely rare. There are many green diamonds that aren’t very valuable because the color is pale with light tones. Fancy, Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid Greens are color grades that make the natural green diamond high in value.
Blue diamonds are considered a great prize. The presence of boron is what causes the stone to be blue. Fancy Intense blue and fancy blue are the most popular. Some pink diamond shades are delicate pastel rose, robust raspberry and full-blooded purpled-reds. Natural pink diamonds are more brilliant and valuable than some rubies or sapphires. Pure pink diamonds are the most in demand. Purple pink, orange pink and brown pink are also popular choices. There is no reason known why diamonds turn pink. Intense pink colors can cost ten times as much as a colorless diamond of the same size.
There are many other natural colored diamonds. The natural process of color makes every stone unique.
