An Overview of Coloured Diamonds

What image comes to your mind when we mention diamond stones? Is it of a brilliant and sparkly colourless rock on your finger ring? Or a stunning shiny stone that graces your necklace? Many people would think of colourless stones when diamonds are in the question. However, those people are missing on enjoying another stunning diamond stone type: coloured diamonds. 

While it is true that diamonds are found in nature, and most of them have a colourless structure, there have been instances where naturally coloured diamonds were mined and used in jewellery. This guide offers you an overview of naturally coloured diamond stones and provides insight on how these rocks differ from the commonly mined colourless stones. 

What are Naturally Coloured Diamonds?

As its moniker suggests, naturally coloured diamonds are found in its natural habitat but do not carry the signature colourless characteristics. On the contrary, these stones are popular as fancy coloured diamonds as they are found in several shades, such as pink, blue, red, brown, and green. Among these diamond stones hues, brown and yellow are readily available, while pink, blue, orange, green, red, and violet are rare to find.

The fancy coloured diamonds are not available in many areas, and their limited accessibility makes them expensive as well as quite ‘invisible’ among customers. Only a few mined stones have the characteristics of colour in their appearance among 100,000 mined stones, making naturally coloured diamonds extremely rare in many parts of the world. It is one of the reasons why many people haven’t even heard about the existence of coloured diamond stones.

But those who have, usually go for fancy coloured diamonds for the intensity and distribution of the colour. The 4Cs considered while buying diamond jewellery is less prominent when you’re purchasing jewellery designs studded with coloured diamond stones.

How are Coloured Diamonds Formed?

Technically, diamonds are formed purely of carbon exhibit colourless and sparkly nature, but perfect diamond stones rarely exist. Instead of being created purely of carbon, these rocks trap several gases and defects as they spend millions of years within the Earth. While some stones can accumulate a single or minimal defect, others often contain multiple irregularities. Such flaws at the early stage of diamond stone formation cause different light wavelength to be absorbed and reflected, giving colour to the otherwise popular colourless precious stones.

You might have noticed that diamond jewellery could consist of slight yellow tint or low brilliance, which are introduced by the aforementioned defects. But as the defects vary, diamonds' colour differs too. A diamond could contain various types of defects, such as the presence of nitrogen and boron, absence of carbon atoms in the diamond lattice, or tiny particles of non-diamond materials present in the stone. All these flaws result in brilliant shades of precious stones, giving us more than just sparkle and hardness. 

One more thing to notice here is while naturally coloured diamonds are mined in their original form, there are also ways to synthetically treat a natural diamond to exhibit certain shades. Any lab-treated natural diamond stone usually contains light hue, which is maximized to offer an overall brilliant colour. The market value of such diamonds is often lower than the fancy coloured diamonds. 

Coloured Diamonds – Natural and Human-made

A diamond can have colours, be it natural or lab-created. Although both the stones are real, the process of natural and lab-created diamond colouring impacts the price of the diamond rocks. If you like noticing, then the next time you buy diamond jewellery, ask for the diamond’s origin (natural or lab), and question about whether the coloured diamond pendant in your hand is a fancy stone or a lab-treated one.

While the authenticity of the precious stones remains unaltered in both the cases, the naturally coloured diamonds are often priced higher than lab-treated stones as fancy rocks are rare and constitute of higher human power.

Coloured Diamond Factors/Facts

Colour Diamond Report

Just like any other diamond stone, coloured diamonds too have certificates and report indicating their authenticity, origin, shape, cut, and other parameters. However, as a buyer the things that you must read in the report while buying the coloured diamond jewellery is whether the material is indeed a real diamond; if the diamond’s colour is natural or a product of treatment; and what colour grade the diamond sits in. Ask the experts at Melorra about all these queries before placing the order for better understanding.

Colour Diamond Treatment

As mentioned above, a few are naturally coloured diamonds, whereas some stones are treated in the lab to exhibit such shades. Always clear your doubt these two aspects before you finalize your diamond ornament purchase. While both the diamonds are real, these coloured aspects do impact the market value of these precious stones.

Colour Intensity

Saturation, also referred to as the strength or intensity of the primary hue exhibited from the diamond, is another parameter to focus on while buying a fancy diamond. For diamond stones with a lighter tone, colour intensity ranges from ‘light’ to ‘intense’ to ‘vivid’, whereas, for darker diamonds, the range is from ‘dark’ to ‘deep’.