Colored Diamonds
Fancy colored diamonds are all the rage these days. 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 colours.
These colours 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 should assume that any affordable fancy colour 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 colour diamonds get their colouring 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 creation. An example of a diamond affected by radiation is a Green diamond.
Another way that a natural colored diamond gets colour is by its inclusions.
Regarded as flaws and undesirable in a colourless diamond, inclusions give
unique tones and brilliant flashes of colour in a fancy colour diamond.
Remember that Natural fancy colored diamonds are very expensive, any
colored diamond labelled 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 colour. These colours vary from red, green, purple, violet, orange, blue and pink; and most shades between. Fancy colour shades vary from faint to intense.
The most famous diamonds in the world are Colour diamonds. The Tiffany Diamond, which is yellow and the Hope Diamond which is blue are colored diamonds. Colour 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 1970s 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.