Colored Diamonds
Today's rage it seems to be are the Fancy colored diamonds.
Gemologists have developed new ways to create versions that are
affordable for the average person - by treating less desirable
diamonds. These less desirable diamonds are treated with
irradiation followed by intense heat. This turns brown and
yellowish diamonds into beautifully colored diamonds that you
can afford. This produces stunning greens, blues, yellows, reds,
purples and other colors. These colors are considered permanent,
but there is a possibility they could change during repairs if a
high heat is used.
Treatments like irradiation make it possible for more people to
own these vividly colored diamonds. Most natural colored
diamonds are rare and also extremely expensive. When shopping
for colored diamonds you need to assume that any affordable
fancy color diamond has been treated. Ask about the stones
origin and request to view a lab certificate to verify
authenticity.
Synthetic colored diamonds are another option if owning a
colored diamond is something you desire but cannot quite afford.
They are real diamonds, but they are created in a lab.
Natural fancy color diamonds get their coloring from different
trace elements present in the stones, such as nitrogen, which
produces a yellow diamond. Diamonds can be colored by exposure
to radiation during its creation. An example of a diamond
affected by radiation is a Green diamond.
Another way that a natural colored diamond gets color is by its
inclusions. Regarded as flaws and undesirable in a colorless
diamond, inclusions give unique tones and brilliant flashes of
color in a fancy color diamond. Remember that Natural fancy
colored diamonds are very expensive, any colored diamond labeled
to be sold as natural should be accompanied by a certificate
from a respected grading lab.
A "fancy" diamond is a natural diamond that has color. These
colors vary from red, green, purple, violet, orange, blue and
pink - and most shades between. Fancy color shades vary from
faint to intense.
An "E" rated diamond (colorless) is much more valuable than a
"Y" rated diamond (light yellow or brown). This is due to two
effects: high-color diamonds are rarer, limiting supply; and the
bright white appearance of high-color diamonds is more desired
by consumers, increasing demand. Poor color is usually not
enough to eliminate the use of diamond as a gemstone: if other
gemological characteristics of a stone are good, a low-color
diamond can remain more valuable as a gem diamond than an
industrial-use diamond.
The most famous diamonds in the world are Color diamonds. The
Tiffany Diamond, which is yellow and the Hope Diamond which is
blue are colored diamonds. Color diamonds have an amazing
financial track record. The value has never decreased on
wholesale level in more than 30 years. Blue and pink diamonds
have doubled every 5 years of a strong economy. In the 1970's
you could have bought a very high quality blue diamond for about
50K and today the very same stone would be worth between 2 and 3
million.