Fancy Colored Diamonds

Colored diamonds are known in the jewelry trade as “fancy diamonds”. They are available in an array of colors, tones and saturations – some are certainly more rare than others, but overall colored diamonds are far more rare than their white counterparts.

Unlike white diamonds and their GIA certificates, it is ideal to view a video of a colored diamond before you choose so you can see how it looks while it moves because colors and their saturation can vary so greatly. Colored diamonds tend to rely on a more intuitive response, rather than a technical diamond grading report.

While round diamonds are a classic and traditional choice for engagement rings, this shape does not lend itself best to colored diamonds as they don’t display the color tones as well as a radiant or cushion cut diamond, for example. While colored diamonds carry a price premium, a great way to feature them in your design is to use them on the band or in the halo. You can browse of our existing pink diamond engagement rings here.

We do not use treated diamonds that are synthetically enhanced and heated to increase the appearance of color. Like white diamonds, we do not use synthetically enhanced colored diamonds because there simply isn’t as much emotional value in something that is created in a lab as there is in its rare and natural counterpart.

Diamonds come in almost every color you could imagine, but some hues are seen more often than others. For example, pink and yellow diamonds have a high demand and are mined at a higher rate than green, purple, orange or blue diamonds. Regardless, a colored diamond is a rare and incredible item and their value increases over time.

Colored diamond grading terminology uses a combination of fancy grades and color descriptions to define a diamond’s characteristic color.

Hue is the dominant color of the diamond. It can be affected by the presence of ‘modifiers’ or ‘tints’, which are additional hues within a stone. A diamond can be a single color, such as pink, or it can have a secondary color, for example if a pink diamond had a purple tint, it would be described as a ‘purplish-pink diamond’.

A single color can potentially have multiple modifiers which are listed ahead of the primary color in the color description.

Saturation refers to the strength or intensity of the hue of main color exhibited from the diamond. Saturation of diamonds with a lighter tone can range from ‘light’ to ‘intense’ to ‘vivid’. For darker diamonds, descriptions can range from ‘dark’ to ‘deep’.

A good way to understand this is imagining a glass of red food coloring next to a glass with ⅔ water and ⅓ food colouring. The hue itself (red) has not changed, but the saturation would be more diluted, and lighter in tone.

Tone refers to how light or dark the diamond appears. This is typically determined by how much brown, black, grey or white is present in the stone.

Imagine the glass of food coloring. If you were to mix a little black food coloring with the red, its hue would still be red, the saturation would still remain the same, but it would be darker in tone.

The 4 Cs are also assessed on colored diamond however, in the GIA grading report the color aspect is detailed further by describing:

• Origin: Describes whether the stone is a natural or treated color.
• Grade: Hue, tone and saturation are all considered when grading color. The GIA uses the following grades to identify color intensity: faint, very light, light, fancy light, fancy, fancy intense, fancy vivid, fancy dark, fancy deep.
• Distribution: Assesses how evenly spread the color is throughout the diamond. The color will be graded as ‘even’ or ‘uneven’ depending on how consistent the concentration of color appears.

A fancy color diamond of moderate tone will be assigned a grade according to its overall face up appearance. These grades are Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Dark and Fancy Deep.

Colored diamonds with a ‘Light’ grade do not reach high levels of saturation, as demonstrated below.

Colored diamonds with a ‘Fancy Light’ grade also do not reach high levels of saturation, but they will exhibit a slightly darker tone or stronger saturation than a “Light’ grade.

‘Fancy Intense’ grade colored diamonds have a lighter tone, with a significantly stronger color saturation.

‘Fancy Vivid’ implies a relatively lighter tone with the strongest possible saturation. For “darker” colors such as blue, Fancy Vivid can only refer to a diamond with a fully saturated darker blue.

‘Fancy Dark’ diamonds have a darker tone with a relatively strong saturation of color.

A diamond with the darkest tone and with some color saturation is usually graded as ‘Fancy Deep’.

Similarly to light-toned diamonds, dark diamonds do not reach high levels of color saturation.

Certain colors almost never come in saturations that would be called vivid. Blue diamonds for instance commonly have a grey modifier and the best appearance for blue is typically a darker tone. The Hope diamond is a Fancy Deep Greyish Blue.

Many colored diamonds feature a secondary color that is visibly present. If the secondary color is strong enough, GIA will add that modifier to the primary hue. If the primary and secondary color are virtually even throughout the diamond, these will be described using the two colors. For example, “Purple Pink. If the primary color is dominant, the secondary color will be described as “ish”, for example, “Purplish Pink”. Confusingly, the secondary color precedes the dominant color in the description, meaning “Purplish Pink” would indicate that the primary color is pink, and the secondary color is purple.

Since color is such an important element in the desirability and market value of a fancy colored diamond, purity and depth of color have a huge impact on the final price.

Color variations: blue, greyish-blue, greenish-blue, turquoise, aquamarine
Color formation: The blue color is caused by the presence of boron atoms. The higher the concentration of boron, the higher the intensity of color. Only one in 200,000 diamonds show blue, and far fewer display it in a deep color, obvious to the untrained eye.
Meaning: Often associated with elegance and sophistication, blue diamonds promote calmness and serenity, truth and purpose.

Color variations: reddish-orange, yellowish-orange, brownish-orange
Color formation: The orange color is a combination of structural deformities and the presence of nitrogen.
Meaning: Believed to inspired boldness, creativity and productivity, orange diamonds are exotic and evocative. Orange is an emotional stimulant and is often linked to energy, self-respect and success within relationships.

Natural colored diamonds are extraordinarily rare and this is reflected in their price point. If you desire a colorful ring design, sapphires come in almost every hue. Emeralds and rubies are also known for their iconic shades of green and red. Precious gemstones serve as a wonderful alternative for colored diamonds as in most cases, their prices are lower, while they still offer a colorful beauty.

Fluorescence is a characteristic that refers to the effect of ultra violet light on the diamond. A UV light source will ‘activate’ the fluorescence and a diamond with a faint, medium, strong or very strong fluorescence will visibly glow under this light. The fluorescent glow will either be blue, green or yellow. A diamond with a fluorescence grade of ‘none’ is referred to as “inert”.

While fluorescence is often deemed undesirable, in most cases there is actually no adverse affect on a diamond’s appearance. Some even contend that in colored diamonds, fluorescence can lift color to the naked eye, enhancing its color appearance.

• Custom engagement rings
• Pink diamonds
• Coloured gemstones