“Only one in 10,000 diamonds has a fancy color”
— GEMOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (GIA)
YELLOW DIAMONDS
The presence of nitrogen causes a diamond to appear yellow and The intensity of the yellow coloUr is dependent upon varying amounts of nitrogen
LARGE QUANTITIES OF YELLOW DIAMONDS FIRST APPEARED IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY WITH THE DISCOVERY OF THE DIAMOND MINES IN KIMBERLEY SOUTH AFRICA
”…OF THE YELLOW TINTS, THE DIAMOND AFFORDS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLES, AND FAR SURPASSES IN VARIETY ALL OTHER GEMS…”
A. C. HAMILIN 1884
BLUE DIAMONDS
The overwhelming majority of natural-coloUr blue diamonds are type IIb WHICH ARE COLOURED BY TRACE ELEMENTS OF BORON IN THE DIAMONDS CRYSTAL LATTICE
BLUE DIAMONDS FIRST appeared in the 17th century from the golconda mines in india and later in the early 20th century from the cullinan mine in south africa
“… THE COLOUR RANGES FROM A PALE SKY BLUE, PASSING THROUGH STEEL BLUE, TO A DARK, INKY BLUE…”
E.J GUBELIN 1980
PINK DIAMONDS
Natural pink diamonds are among the most valuable of Earth’s treasures
THE coloUr of of pink diamonds comes from distortion in their crystal structure, not from trace elements, such as nitrogen, which causes yellow coloUr in diamonds or boron, which causes blue
“… THE MOST ONE COULD HOPE FOR COLOUR-WISE FROM A PINK DIAMOND WAS A SHADE REMINISCENT OF COTTON CANDY OR BUBBLE-GUM… THEY WERE OF INTEREST MAINLY TO COLLECTORS….”
D. FEDERMAN 1989
GREEN DIAMONDS
naturaL-coloUr green DIAMONDS with saturated hues are NOT SEEN OFTEN AND most sought after BY COLLECTORS
GREEN diamonds are coloUred by structural defects produced by radiation exposure OR RARELY BY more complex defects involving nitrogen, hydrogen, or nickel impurities
“… THE DIAMOND IS FOUND AT TIMES IN ALMOST EVERY COLOUR, RED, SAPPHIRE BLUE, EMERALD GREEN ARE VERY RARE AND ARE HIGHLY VALUED…”
W.R. CATTELLE 1903
ORANGE DIAMONDS
PURE ORANGE DiamonDS ARE TREATED AS RARER THAN GREENS, PINKS, OR BLUES
orange diamonds owe their coloUr primarily to nitrogen impurities
“… COLLECTORS LUCKY ENOUGH TO OWN THE OCCASIONAL ORANGE STONE WHOSE HUE TRULY CONJURES PUMPKIN … KNOW THEY POSSESS ONE OF THE WORLDS RAREST DIAMOND TREASURES. THERE ARE JUST ENOUGH OF THESE STONES TO NOURISH DREAMS OF OWNING ONE. BUT REALITY NEARLY ALWAYS FALLS SHORT OF FANTASY…”
D. FEDERMAN 1991
RED DIAMONDS
a fancy red diamond is probably the most desired colour in any fancy colour collection AND THEY ARE AT THE TOP OF THE VALUE SCALE
red diamonds are so rare, that GIA records show that over a 30 year period from 1957 to 1987 there was no mention of a GIA lab report issued for a diamond with “red” as the only descriptive term
“… THERE ARE MANY ROSE-COLOURED DIAMONDS, BUT THE BLOOD OR RUBY RED SPECIMEN… — A GEM ON FIRE AS IT WERE — IS UNIQUE IN ALL MODERN EXPERIENCE…”
E.W. STREETER 1884
PURPLE DIAMONDS
PURE purple diamonds ARE RARELY ENCOUNTERED which results in a high and narrow price range for these gems
Natural purple coloration in diamond is THE RESULT OF post-growth plastic deformation OF THE DIAMOND CRYSTAL in the earth
“… THE RAREST OF DIAMONDS ARE THOSE WHICH ARE DISTINCTLY COLOURED STONES SUCH AS ORANGE, DEEP BLUE, RED, PINK, ORCHID, AND GREEN.”
MARCUS & CO 1937
BROWN DIAMONDS
color in natural brown diamonds is caused by internal parallel brown grain lines due to distortion of the crystal lattice
BROWN diamonds are popular due in large part to positive marketing campaigns and attractive jewelry designs which can make a big statement
“… THE KIMBERLEY WEST AND PAARDEBERG EAST MINES, SITUATED TO THE WEST OF KIMBERLEY, YEILDED… A CONSIDERABLE PROPORTION OF BRILLIANT BROWN STONES.”
P.A. WAGNER 1914
BLACK DIAMONDS
black diamonds get their color from large quantities or clouds of minute mineral INCLUSIONS such as graphite, pyrite or hematite that extend throughout the stonE
Natural-color black diamonds typically are completely opaque, with a high luster that gives the stones an almost metallic appearance
”… DIAMONDS ARE GENERALLY TRANPARENT, BUT THEY CAN BE TRANSLUCENT AND EVEN OPAQUE… JET BLACK…”
E. BOUTAN 1886
GRAY DIAMONDS
Fancy-colored gray diamonds are the result of increased levels of hydrogen or boron encased in the crystal structure as the diamond is being formed deep in the Earth’s crust
“…ADAMANT, OR THE DIAMOND, IS THE MOST PRECIOUS STONE, OF THE COLOUR OF POLISH’D IRON, AND AS IT WERE CRYSTALLINE…”
CAMILLUS LEONARDUS 1502
WHITE DIAMONDS
white diamonds are not coloUr graded according to the GIA D-to-Z color scale because they are not colorless, they are white
THE presence of sub-microscopic INCLUSIONS scatter light passing through the diamond, giving it a translucent “milky” white face-up appearancE
“… DIAMONDS … A VARIETY PRESENTING A CLOUDY OR MILKY APPEARANCE RESEMBLING THE OPAL, ARE SOMETIMES MET WITH.”
S.M. BURNHAM 1886
violet DIAMONDS
BEYOND RARE, IS A TERM OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH VIOLET DIAMONDS AS THEY ARE ALMOST NON-EXISTENT AT CARAT WEIGHTS ABOVE 1 CARAT AND ARE COMPARABLE TO RED AND PURPLE IN TERMS OF RARITY
VIOLET DIAMOnDS OWE THEIR COLOUR TO TRACE ELEMENTS OF NIKEL, NITROGEN AND HYDROGEN COMBINED WITH THE INTENSE STRESS UNDER WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN FORMED
“… Of FANCY GOODS (DIAMONDS) THE BULFONTEIN MINE YEILDS STONES OF A BEAUTIFUL HELIOTROPE COLOUR…”
P.A WAGNER 1914
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