Colored Diamonds, Rare and Precious Stones for Unusual Jewelry
When we say diamond, we immediately think of the most precious, pure and transparent stone, but in reality there are also them, the colored diamonds, also called fancy color diamonds (from the English fancy color diamonds, “fantasy color diamonds”). They display shades ranging from yellow to brown, from pink to red, to green and blue, they are as precious as colorless diamonds (and sometimes more so) and have become protagonists of contemporary high jewelry.
What are Colored Diamonds
They are natural diamonds, which owe their coloration to different factors, for example to the concentration of nitrogen atoms (in yellow diamonds) or boron (in blue ones), or to the natural environment in which the stone is formed.
For this reason colored diamonds are extremely rare: they are 1 out of 10,000 diamonds extracted. The most common are yellow and brown diamonds, the rarest are red and green ones. The shades also include blue, purple, pink, up to gray and black.
If in colorless diamonds the value is given precisely by the absence of color and transparency, in colored diamonds it is the opposite: the more evident the color, the more the value of the stone increases.
Understanding and Evaluating Colored Diamonds
To understand the value of fancy color diamonds you need to take into account three factors:
- the shade of the diamond’s main color and its uniformity;
- saturation, which indicates the intensity of the color;
- tone, which measures the brightness of the diamond.
The GIA (Gemological Institute of America), the American gemological institute, has developed an officially recognized system for classifying colored diamonds, which is based precisely on these factors.
All Diamond Colors
- Brown is the most common color among colored diamonds, with a great variety of shades, from light brown to darker brown.
- Yellow colored diamonds are also quite common, due to the considerable amount of nitrogen in the crystal structure. They are found mostly in Australia, South Africa and Brazil.
- Green in fancy color diamonds is often light, with low saturation and rarely uniform color. The coloration derives from the exposure of the stones to natural radiation over millions of years. They are extremely rare and come mainly from Africa and South America.
- Blue is also a rare color, given by the presence of boron: the greater the quantity inside the stone, the more intense the shade of blue. They are extracted in Australia and South Africa.
- Pink and red colored diamonds are very rare, especially since 2020, when the Argyle mine in Australia closed, which for several decades had produced 90% of these diamonds. Since then, among the producing countries are India, Brazil, Angola and Russia.
- Finally, there are also gray colored diamonds, given by the presence of iron inclusions.
We should add that size, shape and cut can also affect the shades of colored diamonds. The color can appear more intense in a larger diamond and some cuts, such as the radiant cut, can make some colored diamonds, such as yellow ones, stand out.
Perfect Jewelry with Colored Diamonds
Fancy color diamonds are increasingly sought after both in traditional jewelry and in more original and innovative pieces.
A colored diamond can be an alternative to the solitaire and thus transform the traditional engagement ring into a unique and different piece of jewelry from any other. It can also become the protagonist of other important occasions, such as anniversaries and special occasions, and make classic jewels unusual such as diamond wedding bands, tennis bracelets, stud earrings, rings and pendants.
There are also special collections in which colored diamonds have a leading role, such as Fancy Color & Beads by Daverio1933, which matches the stones based on color and shape to create earrings, bracelets and pendants in unique pieces.
Multicolor diamonds are also perfect together with white ones, to create chromatic effects that enhance shapes and volumes, especially in important jewelry. Examples are the sculpture-jewelry pieces signed by Luca Daverio, such as the rings from the ForEverHugMe or Masterpieces collections and the more recent Ricci, where colored diamonds emphasize the original “amorphous shape” of rings and pendants.