The Stunning Beauty and Variety of Colored Diamonds

There is nothing like a diamond to show your style, status, and personality. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and they also make stylish and elegant pieces for men.

Since humans gathered together in groups, we have adorned our bodies to show off our class, our status in our community, and our personal sense of style.

Jewelry of all kinds is a great way to express who we are and the face we want to present to the world. Diamonds are a timeless gemstone that carries the air of quality, luxury, and discerning taste.

With all this in mind, it’s not a surprise that diamonds have long been the most coveted of all gemstones for jewelry. Diamonds come in a wide range of colors. A lot of people are unaware that there are so many different types and colors to choose from. 

The different hues of diamonds lend different styles and look to the end product. Selecting a colored diamond is an excellent way to create a truly unique statement piece that will catch the eyes of all who see it.

The Clear (or White) Diamond

Before we touch on the unusual colors of diamonds, let’s first take a look at the clear or white diamond. One of the ways that the quality and value of white diamonds is the absence of color.

The clearer the stone, the higher grade it receives. Jewelers use the GIA White Diamonds Color-Grade Scale to rate each and every stone. This is the industry standard for the evaluation and valuation of diamonds.

If you want clear diamonds, you want one that has the highest possible clarity. The more clear the stone is the higher its value and rarity. What works best for you will depend on your preferences and your budget. A truly colorless stone will cost quite a bit.

Colors in stones like diamonds come from impurities in the stone. The higher the clarity of the stone means that it contains fewer impurities than other stones. The highest-rated stones will come with the highest price tag but will be of unmatched quality and clarity.

Now that we know what makes clear stones so valuable and coveted, let’s take a closer look at the grading system used by industry professionals to grade stones.

GIA Diamond Color Grade Scale

The color-grade scale is a set of standards from the Gemological Institute of America. The scale runs from Grade D to Z.

A Grade D diamond is a fully colorless diamond and has the highest clarity available in this gemstone. This is the ratest and highest quality diamond money can buy.

Since it is such a rare and thus expensive stone, estimates from Blue Nile jewelry company show that only about 8% of jewelry buyers go for this stone. This is due to the cost and rarity of the stone.

F stones are also highly coveted as they are largely colorless and have the bright shine and luster that we love in diamonds. It is not as clear as the Grade D stone, so it is less expensive, but it is still clear and bright.

Near-colorless stones are what most people purchase. There is no visible color but they aren’t as free of impurities as Grades D and F. This grade of stone is a good value for the money, as the stone is quite clear.

Grade K diamonds are more budget-friendly than the other grades of diamonds we have looked at here. These stones may have a faint color to them. They pair really well with yellow or rose gold and make a great choice for those with lesser means.

Yellow

While diamonds that have impurities in them are considered less rare and pure than clear diamonds, there is an exception. This is the yellow diamond. Some claim that this is the rarest type of diamond in the world. This is why it comes with such a high price tag.

A truly valuable yellow diamond will be deeply and richly hued. You want a stone that has a deep color saturation. When looked at in the face-up position, the brightness of the color should be obvious.

A pure yellow diamond is one of the rarest and most valuable stones in the world and it has an unmatched beauty. When viewed in the sunlight, the stone almost appears on fire.

The yellow color of these stones comes from impurity in the stone. For the highest quality yellow diamonds, the color is a result of trace amounts of nitrogen that are within the crystalline structure of the diamond itself.

Most diamonds only have traces of this yellow color. These are lovely stones, but they don’t have the allure and value of their more richly hued counterparts. A richly saturated pure yellow diamond will garner the highest price of all yellow diamonds.

The thing about all colored diamonds is that the color is a result of some type of impurity within the structure of the diamond. There are many different reasons this happens. Since it isn’t rare, stones with a yellow hue are regularly found when mining for diamonds. The purely yellow stone is a lot rarer. Pure and rare yellow diamonds may be found anywhere diamonds are mined.

Red

The red diamond is another type of colored diamond that has a unique look and feel. Red diamonds range in redness and saturation and create a truly stunning and unique piece of jewelry.

The red diamond has the same mineral composition as traditional diamonds. There is a lot of debate within the gemological community as to what causes the red color to appear. The overall opinion appears to be that the color comes as a result of intense pressure during the formation of the stone.

Since the color comes from environmental conditions, rather than impurities like many other colored diamonds, it is very rare. Rarity often means a higher price tag. Richly saturated red diamonds cost more than the highest-grade colorless diamonds.

This is simply due to the rarity of the stone. Red diamonds fall under the 12-categories of “fancy colored diamonds”. This is one of the rarest ones you can find.

Gemologists consider red diamonds to be dark pink diamonds. There isn’t a lot of variation in the color of red diamonds. They all tend to have roughly the same hue.

You won’t see really large red diamonds often at all.  Most often, red diamonds are less than half a carat in weight, so don’t expect large, ostentatious stones in a red hue.

Blue

All fancy colored diamonds have natural colors. Jewelers never use any treatments to enhance the color of the stone. What you see is completely natural. Jewelers regularly use the blue diamond to create unique pieces.

The blueness of a blue diamond can be highly varied. It ranges from just a hint of blue to a truly stunning, almost aquamarine hue.

These are natural diamonds with the same chemical composition as traditional diamonds. Like yellow diamonds, blue diamonds get their hue from impurity.

In the case of blue diamonds, the color is a result of traces of boron on the carbon structure of the diamond. The resulting color may be faint or stunning and bright.

Blue diamonds are rare. You will only find blue diamonds in a few places in the world. You find blue diamonds only at specific mines. These mines are located in South Africa, Australia, and India.

The more richly hued the blue of the stone is, the higher its rating and value will be. You can create a truly stunning and one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry from stunningly blue diamonds. These stones create some of the most eye-catching pieces you will find.

Pink

Pink diamonds make excellent stones for high-end jewelry. The color of pink diamonds ranges from just a hint of pink to a deep enough hue that it becomes a red diamond. We discuss the red diamond above.

Like the red diamond, there is a lot of debate about what causes a diamond to become pink. A pink diamond is not the result of impurity like other fancy diamonds. It is produced in the same way as red diamonds, which, as we noted, are simply dark pink.

The best guess is that these diamonds get their unique hue from intense pressure underground during the formation of the diamond. Pink diamonds require special geological forces for their creation. These specific conditions make it one of the rarest fancy colored diamonds.

A pink diamond makes for dainty, feminine, and stunning jewelry. The color matches great with pretty much any type of metal. The lighter the hue, the better it looks with rose or yellow gold. The darker the hue, the better the stones look with white gold, platinum, or stainless steel.

These stones will likely be small. You do not often see pink diamonds that are larger than about half a carat in size. You may occasionally find larger ones, but they are rare and quite expensive. Their rarity and generally small size make them an excellent stone for a ring. They also make great accent stones.

The pink diamond also looks great in other pieces like necklaces, bracelets, and brooches.

Black

Most people aren’t aware that there is a such thing as a black diamond. It is a unique and stunning stone that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The resulting jewelry is one-of-a-kind and highly unique.

Interestingly, a black diamond is composed most similarly to white, colorless diamonds. They do not have impurities like other colored diamonds like blue diamonds or yellow diamonds.

The color of the stone is something akin to a visual illusion. In essence, a black diamond is simply a regular diamond that has a lot of inclusions.

Inclusions are imperfections which, on colorless diamonds, look like dark specks. However, when the number of inclusions is high enough, the stone actually appears a deep, dark, black.

Unlike other fancy colored stones, there are both natural and treated black diamonds. Natural black diamonds, as the name implies, are diamonds that naturally have a huge number of inclusions that give the appearance of a black hue.

Treated black stones are subject to heat, pressure, and even irradiation to create the inclusions needed to create a black diamond.

A natural black diamond is far rarer and more valuable than treated black diamonds. However, treated black diamonds are a great way to enjoy this unique stone without breaking the bank in the process.

Natural black diamonds obtain their color in the process of creation. A treated diamond will be subject to a wide range of treatments to create inclusions and obtain a dark color.

This stunning, unique, eye-catching stone makes a great center stone for a truly unique ring. It also looks great in necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and brooches. All pieces that include black diamonds have a sophisticated and dark look and feel.

In Closing

The diamond is a versatile and unique stone that looks amazing in all types of jewelry. It gives the air of luxury, sophistication, and class. It is easy to see why the diamond is still one of the most coveted stones available. Diamonds range in color and clarity and the higher the clarity and rarer the color, the more expensive the stone will be.

Most people don’t know just how many different colors diamonds come in. Colored fancy diamonds encompass a category of 12 different colored diamonds.

Different colored diamonds form in different ways. Some colored diamonds, like yellow and blue diamonds, result from impurities in the carbon structure of the diamond. This can lead to richly hued yellow and blue diamonds that create stunning pieces of jewelry.

Other colored diamonds, like pink and red, actually get their color naturally during the formation process. While debate still rages, most think the red and pink color is a result of intense heat and pressure during the creation of the stone.

Black diamonds are simply colorless diamonds with a high number of inclusions. This gives the visual appearance of a deep black stone. Black diamonds may be found naturally, and jewelers can also create them with a range of treatments.