Colored diamonds are made up of billions of carbon atoms, however if small amounts of other elements are incorporated into the crystal lattice, this can change the color of a diamond.
Also known as fancy diamonds, colored natural diamonds, are highly sought after and are even rarer than clear, colorless diamonds.
Discover exactly how these ultra-rare gifts from the earth are formed and the extraordinary natural processes that create colored diamonds.
How are colored diamonds formed?
Much like colorless diamonds, colored diamonds were formed between 900 million to 3.2 billion years ago, deep below the earth’s surface, under intense heat and extreme pressure. They too are made up almost entirely of carbon atoms, however low levels of foreign atoms per million carbon atoms or structural defects can change them from colorless to colored.
Discover below exactly how each different colored diamond is formed.
Did you know
For every 10,000 colorless diamonds, only one is classed as a fancy color diamond.
Yellow diamonds
The fancy yellow color in natural diamonds comes from nitrogen within the crystal lattice. The way these groups of nitrogen atoms are arranged means that they absorb more light from the blue-end of the spectrum, and therefore give the stone its yellow appearance.
The amount of color displayed, depends on the amount of nitrogen contained within the diamond’s crystal structure, however the more intense the color is, the more expensive the stone.
Did you know
Less than 1 in 10,000 gem-quality diamonds are natural fancy yellow.
Blue diamonds
The color blue comes from the chemical element boron trapped inside the diamond.
Although blue diamonds only need a tiny amount of boron to produce their color, they are extremely rare, with only one in 200,000 natural diamonds showing a light shade of blue and even fewer displaying a deep, rich color.
Green diamonds
A natural green diamond’s color does not develop until the end of their journey to the earth’s surface. The color comes from natural irradiation, usually caused by alpha particles. Absorbing red and yellow light causes the diamond to reflect a green hue, however this is usually confined to a very thin layer at the surface of the original rough diamond so it’s very rare that the green color will be present throughout the diamond.
Did you know
Only a handful of green diamonds come to market each year.
Pink diamonds
Whilst the color of most natural diamonds can be scientifically explained, the origin of pink coloration in diamonds still puzzles scientists. They believe that pink diamond shades are caused by plastic deformation, in response to extreme natural stresses during the diamond’s storage deep below the surface of the earth. This means that they didn’t actually start their growth process pink, making pink one of the rarest fancy colored diamonds.
Brown diamonds
Brown diamonds, are the most common natural color in diamonds. Their color is caused by either structural defects in the diamond lattice or traces of nitrogen within the diamond lattice. This means that along with yellow diamonds, they are the only colored diamonds whose color is graded on the normal diamond color scale.
Black diamonds
Black diamonds are not truly black. They contain numerous dark inclusions, meaning little light can pass through them, so this is what gives them their dark appearance. Common inclusions in black diamonds include graphite, pyrite, or hematite.
Whilst other colored diamonds are transparent, the many inclusions in a natural black diamond means it is typically opaque and they will not exhibit the same fire and brilliance of a colorless or transparent colored diamond.
Did you know
Black diamonds are the toughest of all the different natural diamond colors.
Red diamonds
Red are the rarest and therefore the most expensive of all natural colored diamonds. Although still uncertain, scientists believe that red diamonds get their color the same way as pink diamonds, because of plastic deformation.
Did you know
Red natural diamonds are so rare that only around twenty to thirty are known to exist in the entire world and most are less than half a carat in size.
Imperfections creating beauty
Extremely sought-after and expensive, colored diamonds are ultra-rare gifts of nature. Incredible processes in the diamonds have allowed for the formation of a stunning array of different colored diamonds, from the light to the intense and the vivid. These atomic imperfections that have created beauty are a miracle of nature and will always be treasured; today, tomorrow and Forever.
The power of a diamond
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