Natural Colored Diamonds
When most people think of colored stone jewelry, their minds turn to rubies, sapphires, and emeralds and in most cases they would be right. However, for the jewelry connoisseur, they should also consider the most beautiful, brightest, and durable gemstone of all – the diamond! Most people don’t realize that diamonds come in colors other than clear. The jewelry industry calls these diamonds “white”. However, the knowledgeable jewelry aficionado knows that the most beautiful diamonds in the world come in a rainbow of colors.
When most people think of colored stone jewelry, their minds turn to rubies, sapphires, and emeralds and in most cases they would be right. However, for the jewelry connoisseur, they should also consider the most beautiful, brightest, and durable gemstone of all – the diamond! Most people don’t realize that diamonds come in colors other than clear. The jewelry industry calls these diamonds “white”. However, the knowledgeable jewelry aficionado knows that the most beautiful diamonds in the world come in a rainbow of colors.
First of all, the most desired colored diamonds are all natural. This means the diamonds come out of the ground the color they are polished to and are not treated or modified in any way to bring out or enhance their color. A diamond must be certified by a gemological laboratory to be called natural. Natural colored diamonds represent less than 1% of all diamond rough processed.
Natural colored diamonds may be one primary color or modified with a secondary hue or hues. Natural colored diamonds are also graded for color differently than white diamonds. Naturally colored diamonds are graded in this order: faint, very light, light, fancy light, fancy, fancy dark, fancy intense, fancy deep, and fancy vivid. With most natural colored diamonds, the more desirable stones are the ones closer to fancy vivid.
The least rare color of natural colored diamonds is yellow. Natural yellow diamonds get their color from the presence of nitrogen in the carbon lattice. One of the best known yellow diamonds in the world is the “Incomparable”, a 407.48 carat shield-shaped step cut diamond graded fancy brownish-yellow, but internally flawless. Connoisseur Louis Glick is the owner of this diamond after twice trying unsuccessfully to sell the “Incomparable” at auction with a reserve price of $20 million.
Next most rare are the pink diamonds. Natural pink diamonds are formed by a “plastic deformation” of the crystal as it is being formed. Before the discovery of the Argyle Mine in Northwestern Australia in 1985, natural pink diamonds were far rarer than they are now. With the discovery of the mine, natural pink diamonds became more abundant and 90% of the world’s supply come from here. Some famous pink diamonds include the Darya-ye Noor Diamond with an approximate weight of 182 carats! The Graff Pink is a 24.78 carat emerald cut fancy intense pink diamond, and is the most expensive jewel ever sold at auction at $46 million! The Steinmetz Pink, the largest fancy vivid pink graded diamond, was unveiled in 2003 and weighs 59.6 carats. Finally, pink diamonds got celebrity notice when Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez a 6 carat pink diamond engagement ring!
Rarer than pink diamonds are the orange diamonds. Natural orange diamonds get their color by the presence of nitrogen and defects in the crystal lattice. Because the color orange is a combination of yellow and red, the primary colors of orange diamonds range from red orange to yellow orange. The most famous orange diamond is the “Pumpkin Diamond”, purchased at auction by Ronald Winston of Harry Winston Jewelers the day before Halloween and renamed because of its color and the significance of the purchase date. It is graded fancy vivid orange and weighs 5.54 carats. It gathered further significance when it was worn in a ring by Halle Berry at the 2002 Academy Awards when she won Best Actress. Its current value is $3 million!
The next rarest diamond is the blue diamond. Natural blue diamonds get their color from the presence of boron in their structure. The most famous blue diamond in the world is also the best known – The Hope Diamond. Weighing in at 45.52 carats and fancy deep grayish blue, this allegedly cursed diamond was donated to the Smithsonian Institute by its final owner, Harry Winston.
Among the rarest of the natural colored diamonds are the purple diamonds. True purple diamonds are almost non-existent and are created by unusually high amounts of hydrogen in the structure of the diamond. Most natural purple diamonds are modified by pink so that they are known as pinkish-purple diamonds. Most are smaller than two carats and most are cut as round brilliants. There are three famous purple diamonds known in the world and little is known about two of them – the Royal Purple Heart Diamond, and the Supreme Purple Star Diamond. The purple diamond came to the forefront in 2003 when professional athlete Kobe Bryant gave his wife an 8 carat purple diamond ring after it was discovered he had a marital infidelity.
Even rarer are natural green diamonds. They are unusual in that their formation is not from any defects found in the diamond. They are formed from exposure to radiation that occurs naturally in the soil, most likely from uranium ore. Natural green diamonds, because of the method of their formation, are often only green on the surface. There is only one well-known natural green diamond – The Dresden Green. The Dresden Green weighs approximately 41 carats, and gets its name from Dresden, the capital of Saxony in Germany.
The rarest of all natural colored diamonds are red diamonds. They are formed by the same process as pink diamonds. There are only a few diamonds that GIA has graded as Fancy Red (unmodified). The largest of these is the Moussaieff Red, a 5.11 carat triangular brilliant cut diamond. The reddest red diamond is the Rob Red, a 0.59 carat pear shaped fancy intense red diamond. It is also unique in that it is relatively clean with a VS1 clarity grading.
As you can tell, natural colored diamonds are available in every color of the rainbow and then some. For most people interested in colored stones, they are most likely to be satisfied with gemstones since the colors are more to their liking. But for those who want the exotic and can afford it, natural colored diamonds make an exciting and luxurious choice.
Resources:
Bryan works at Images Jewelers, a fine jewelry manufacturer and retailer in Elkhart, Indiana, and a leading manufacturer and retailer of custom jewelry on the internet. If you want to find out more about Natural Colored Diamonds, see our expanded article on SQUIDOO!
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