Consumer demand for rare colored diamonds has skyrocketed in recent years. One of the reasons they have grown so popular, aside from being a smart investment strategy, is that they have been donned with greater and greater frequency by some of the world’s most famous celebrities. With more and more celebrities walking down the red carpet wearing natural colored diamond jewelry, it was only a matter of time before the adoring masses took notice.While it’s difficult to pinpoint the start of the trend, most celebrity watchers agree that it started when singer Jennifer Lopez became engagement to actor Ben Affleck. Back in 2002, Ben proposed to Jennifer with a stunning pink diamond ring weighing in at 6.1 carats. The heart shaped pink diamond engagement ring was produced by famed jeweler, Harry Winston and sold for $1.2 million dollars. While their relationship wasn’t destined to last, diamonds are indeed forever. The ring was eventually re-acquired by Harry Winston, and it’s current status remains unknown.In 2004, famed football player David Beckham gave his wife Victoria a similar ring. It was a gorgeous 10 carat pink diamond ring with matching earrings. According to various tabloid publications and reports in the mainstream press, David had an extramarital affair with another woman and i an effort to redeem himself purchased the rare colored diamonds to symbolize his love for his wife. A friend of the couple was quoted as saying “diamonds are forever, just like their marriage”. It seems to have done the trick, as David and Victoria Beckham are a happily married couple to this day.Famous supermodel Heidi Klum has also been spotted recently wearing a large, fancy yellow diamond ring. It was given to her by her husband and popular singer, Seal as a symbol of his love and devotion to his beloved wife. While fancy yellow diamonds are abundant compared to canary yellow diamonds, there is no doubt that this ring holds a special place in Heidi’s heart. These famous natural colored diamonds have become almost as popular as the celebrity couple themselves.
When Ben Affleck proposed to Jennifer Lopez, the act generated the expected amount of media attention. However the majority of that coverage wasn’t focused on the total number of the couple’s prior marriages, or that “Bennifer” name smashup the couple had been adorned with. No, the focus of the majority of mass speculation was the color of Jennifer’s diamond.
They Come In Pink?
Ms Lopez’s engagement ring was topped with a tremendously large 6-carat pink diamond. The word that people seemed to cling to was pink. The realization that diamonds come in colors started to spread, contradicting everything taught about diamond color: the closer to clear, the more valuable the diamond. Was Jennifer’s “pink diamond” actually a diamond?
Are They Still Diamonds?
In a word, yes. While the common color grading scale used for diamonds runs from D (completely clear) to Z (obviously yellow) there is an entire subset of diamonds which fall beyond the Z rating into the umbrella grade of “Fancy.” Fancy diamonds still hold all of the other characteristics of a traditional white diamonds – the hardness, the technical measure of clarity, the cut, and carat are all the same.
A Scale All Their Own
Colored diamonds that fall outside of the white grading scale, still have to have a subjective color grade assigned to them. However, the grading scale for colored diamonds is considerably easier for the layman to understand. Colored diamonds with the faintest hints of color are given a grade of Faint. Lightly colored diamonds are either Very Light, or Light. The bolder colored diamonds, your truly fancy gems, are graded along a scale ranging from Fancy Light to Fancy Dark, with Intense, Vivid, and Deep breaking up the middle.
A Stone of Many Colors
As you might have guessed, pink isn’t the only color for diamonds. The infamous, and rumored to be cursed, Hope Diamond is a 45.52 carat dark grayish blue diamond. Canary diamonds are a brilliant yellow. Both brown and black diamonds are both real and growing in popularity lately. Other colors include orange, red, green, and purple. According to the Gemological Institute of America and the International Gemological Institute, there are 27 official hues which span the color spectrum, and there are diamonds to fill each of those hues.
Not to Get Too Technical
How those diamonds gain those hues is a bit of a technical process. Essentially, when the diamonds are forming from pure carbon, the molecules arrange themselves into a cage called a crystal matrix. As the diamonds are crushed under the earth’s pressure, that matrix closes in on itself. Occasionally, during that process, atoms from other elements such as boron, nitrogen, or hydrogen, will be trapped inside of those diamonds as their respective matrices close. The end result is the colored diamond. As one would rightly assume, when multiple gases are trapped in the diamond, you get diamonds of blended colors, like pink champagne diamonds.
Still Really Rare
While color is certainly one reason why people prize fancy diamonds, it’s certainly not the only one. Fancy diamonds are exceptionally rare. Colored diamonds, with a Fancy or deeper color grade, account for a mere 1.8% of the entire world’s diamonds. When that percentage is broken down by color, those percentages get even smaller. Canary diamonds, diamonds which are known for their brilliantly yellow hue, account for less than 0.1% of the world’s diamonds. Factor in the other common diamond factors – the size of the stone, the inherent shape, and the sense of clarity, and colored diamonds of significant size and quality get even rarer still.
Why Choose a Colored Diamond?
Colored diamonds aren’t for everyone or even for every type of jewelry. However, they do have some very strong selling points. The rarity of colored diamonds makes them special. The variety of colors means that colored diamonds can be used to convey not only the emotions associated with a traditional diamond, but also to cater to the specific tastes of the recipient. It’s those strengths that allow colored diamonds to fill jewelry niches that traditional white diamonds could not. In the end, a colored diamond provides a new and unique spin on a familiar and classic idea.
The most common diamonds that are used in engagement rings are the colorless types. Diamonds that belong to this category are the white or the colorless diamonds that are graded on a scale of D to Z. The more colorless diamonds are rated more valuable than those that are yellowish or brownish. Most people choose a colorless diamond for their engagement ring because these stones produce the most brilliance and sparkle when properly set on a metal ring that will further enhance their colors. White or colorless diamonds will sparkle more if set on white platinum or white gold. Diamond colors, meaning and recommended settings. However, a new trend is now arising when it comes to engagement rings. The use of colored diamonds are now becoming more and more popular since Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez a pink diamond for an engagement ring. So if you are looking for an engagement ring that will be unique and will stand out, why not consider using fancy diamonds? Fancy diamonds are the colored loose diamonds. They come in intense colors and are much more expensive than their colorless counterparts. Rare colored diamonds, as the name implies, are hard to find stones such as pink, purple and brown. Some common colors of diamonds are yellow, blue and orange.Like roses, where each color has a different meaning; colored diamonds are also considered to convey different emotions. Yellow or canary shade diamonds expresses joy, happiness as well as wisdom. Choosing a metal for an intensely yellow stone differs on the desired effect. A yellow gold ring will further enhance the intensity of the yellow color and will make the stone and the ring appear as a whole. On the other hand, setting yellow diamonds on white platinum, white gold or blackened silver will draw attention to the stone because of the contrast. Pink diamonds represent love, joy, beauty and romance. A pink stone also symbolizes femininity and delicacy. The best metal to use in setting pink stones is pink gold. Some associate black as a symbol of illness and death but in diamonds, black represents sophistication. Black stones can be set on white platinum for contrast and can also be set alongside small colorless diamonds. Diamonds that have intense blue colors represent peace, spirituality, youth and loyalty. Green diamonds represent wealth and also jealousy. Red diamonds show confidence and power and also romance. Purple diamonds, because of its extreme rarity, means luxury, opulence, and royalty. Colored diamonds are not as brilliant as their colorless counterparts. Because of this, the round brilliant cut is not recommended for colored stones. Most colored loose diamonds are used for princess cut engagement rings or the emerald cut engagement rings. Because of they do not sparkle as much, most people prefer to have their colored diamonds set in white or pale metal rings so that the contrast will make their stones stand out more. The color of the diamonds comes from the crystallization process. The different colors of diamonds come from the different materials that surround them while crystallization is taking place. Yellow diamonds are formed when high amounts of nitrogen are absorbed within the lattice of the diamond during crystallization. Blue diamonds are formed when boron, instead of nitrogen, is absorbed. Some of the colors of diamonds did not come from the absorption of other elements. Red diamonds are formed when the carbon chains that make up the stone becomes twisted during the crystallization process. Green and pink diamonds are also formed this way. Colored diamonds are valued differently. The price value of these colored stones depends on the intensity and the rareness of the color. Naturally occurring colored diamonds are very rare to find. They are so rare that most jewelers may not even have the chance to sell one in their stores. Most colored diamonds are more expensive than their colorless counterparts. A small purple diamond, because of its extreme rareness, might value significantly higher than a colorless stone with a high carat weight. So if you want your diamond engagement ring to be unique, you should choose a colored diamond for it.