If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, colored diamonds are her forever crush. But not everyone gets to spend their life with their crush. As cliche as it might sound, it still captures the sentiments of every girl who can’t yet afford the fancy colored diamonds.
Colored diamonds are not just rare but also exceptionally beautiful, which is a cool twist that you don’t generally see in stones. They’re the coolest stars of the jewelry scene that make a tidal wave of headlines whenever they’re spotted. All in all, diamonds displaying vibrant colors basically personify jewelry lovers’ perception of luxury profoundly. Let’s explore the nature of these dreamy stones.
What Are Colored Diamonds?
Colored diamonds are real diamonds that display an incredible spectrum of hues; in fact, these stones occur in all colors. They are rare and valuable, and they make only about 0.1% of all diamonds.
Some of their most popular color varieties include red, blue, white, black, green, yellow, orange, brown and purple. While all of these diamond colors are rare, red, green, purple and orange are comparatively rarer than the others.
How Do They Get Their Colors?
Like gemstones, colored diamonds get their colors due to the presence of trace elements in their crystalline lattice. For instance, yellow, orange and brown diamonds have nitrogen atoms. Similarly, blue diamonds get their color from boron, hydrogen influences the color of purple and violet diamonds, and so on. Nitrogen is one of the most common non-carbon elements found in diamonds.
How Are Colored Diamonds Graded?
Colored diamonds are graded based on a series of factors ranging from the base color of a stone to its clarity, cut and carat weight. The base color of a diamond is its fundamental and most dominant hue that’s easily noticeable to the naked eye. A diamond’s base color serves as its defining characteristic that constitutes the major part of the appeal of the stone.
What kicks the appeal of the diamond up a notch is the intensity of its base color. As such the diamond color scale is a sequence of increasing color strength starting from Faint to Fancy Deep. It is in contrast to the diamond color scale for white diamonds where the focus is on colorlessness. While Fancy Intense colored diamonds are sought-after for their vibrant hues, diamonds with Faint or Very Light color intensity appear more like the colorless ones.
Do Colored Diamonds Have Secondary Colors?
Yes, alongside the primary color of colored diamonds, these stones have secondary hues that influence their overall allure. The secondary colors enhance the complexity of diamonds and play a crucial part in determining their value. For instance, pink diamonds that boast a slight purplish secondary hue are extremely rare so they’re greatly desired. The combination of the primary and the secondary colors in a diamond influence its price dramatically.
Does The Presence Of Inclusions Affect The Value Of Colored Diamonds?
Color is the primary driver of value in these diamonds. Stones with an attractive face-up color are cherished by connoisseurs even if they have numerous inclusions. However, inclusions that compromise the durability of a diamond lower its value substantially. Diamonds below the SI2 clarity grade are not usually a good choice for high-contact jewelry items such as engagement rings.
Did You Know?
Ben Affleck first proposed to Jennifer Lopez with a pink diamond engagement ring in 2002. The 6.1-ct diamond which reportedly cost $1.2 million dominated the fashion jewelry news big time.
The ring became everyone’s first choice for their love token. However, those who wanted to replicate the ring with limited funds chose pink morganite instead of pink diamond.
The Perfect Cut
Radiant cuts are always of the moment when it comes to colored diamonds. That’s because these cuts intensify the colors to a great extent. Carefully cut stones displaying a perfect symmetry of facets are a sight for sore eyes. Such stones command the highest prices.
Which Is The Rarest & Most Expensive Variety Of Colored Diamonds?
Red diamonds are undoubtedly the rarest and most expensive of all colored diamonds. These diamonds are so rare that only 20-30 of these stones are known to exist in the entire world.
Now that’s the most quintessential definition of rarity when it comes to jewels. The prices of these diamonds typically exceed $1 million per carat.
Carat Weight Of Colored Diamonds
Large colored diamonds are exceptionally rare and thus much more valuable than the smaller ones. Even a slight increase in the carat weight of these stones can lead to a remarkable increase in their price per carat. However, rare diamonds that aren’t often found in large sizes still sell at premium prices. For instance, red diamonds are usually half a carat to a carat in size but they’re known to fetch exorbitant prices.
Celebrities & Colored Diamonds
Colored diamonds steal hearts and so it’s natural that they get maximum celebrity attention. Various divas have chosen these stones for their engagement rings such as Blake Lively, Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. The 12-ct oval-cut pink diamond ring of Blake Lively is a sight to behold. And so is JLo’s green colored diamond ring from ex-husband Ben Affleck.
Also, Victoria Beckham has one, a peachy-pink diamond stunner that we know of. The fever of colored diamonds has gripped not only Hollywood actresses but also tennis players. Anna Kournikova, the former professional tennis player, has a pink diamond ring that she got from her partner Enrique Iglesias. Looks like pink diamonds are the hottest charmers.
Final Words
There’s no denying that colored diamonds dance with their glitz and glam on the diamond color chart. But spoiler alert: they come with a hefty price tag. So, you can buy one with all your life savings and be a bummer. Or go with lab created colored diamonds for a budget friendly but equally appealing jewel.
If you’re looking for an alternative to colored diamonds, here is one morganite ring for you.
Oval-Shaped Morganite Ring
Take a look at this pink morganite ring from our collection that best replicates Blake Lively’s jewel. The 3.07-ct oval-shaped bobby-dazzler is set on a rose gold pavé band, offering the ultimate harmonious look. Further, the dainty diamonds on the band add to the morganite’s vivid color. At $2,798, this ring is your ticket to Hollywood glam.
Stone(s): 1 Morganite & 48 Diamonds
Metal: 14k Rose Gold
Price: $2,798
Stone Code: MG205064OV
Setting Code: R12032MG