Jewelry designers aren’t simply placing their diamonds in food coloring to get the brilliant variance in diamond colors. While colored diamonds can be created in a lab mimicking how these stones receive their given color by the forces of nature, in this post we are going to examine natural colored diamonds.
According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), there are 27 continuous hues of natural colored diamonds. However there is a very large amount of color variations that come in to play with the consideration of tone, hue, and saturation which lends to thousands of different diamond color possibilities. We will get into some of that in a later post.
Colored diamonds appear when an element other than carbon (whose sole presence is what makes up traditional, white diamonds). A color deviation will be visible when any other element bonds with the carbon, or even other outside factors, such as exposure to radiation.
- Pink, Red: intense heat and pressure change the electron structure
- Blue: Boron bonds to carbon
- Yellow, Brown: Nitrogen bonds to carbon
- Green: Radiation exposure
- Purple: Plastic deformation?? [this is what I found online, but it sure doesn’t sound like a selling point
- Brown, Orange: structural change or nitrogen
- Black: Presence of graphite or sulfides
The rarest diamonds, such as red diamonds and canary yellow, have intense colors from nitrogen dispersions throughout the stone instead of in clusters. The more intense the color is the more rare the stone.
WHY CONSIDER A NATURAL COLORED DIAMOND
Colored diamonds are an expression of the wearer, whether it is a color that complements their skin tone, a favorite color, or maybe one of sentimental value. Regardless of the reason for the chosen colored diamond, they are striking, unique, and increasing quickly in popularity. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog posts on the colored diamond engagement rings spotted among the stars.
Shaftel Diamond Co. has a wide selection of colored diamond engagement rings. Colored diamonds at Shaftel are all natural stones. Stop by or make an appointment to peruse handcrafted collections.
