Diamonds are unarguably the king of all precious gemstones. They are recognized for being a universal sign of love. People have loved wearing and gifting diamonds for centuries. However, not all diamonds are equal. Price of a diamond depends on carat (weight), clarity, cut, and color.
Thanks to the tradition of proposals, diamond engagement rings are the most sought after jewelry items on the planet. What used to be a tradition only reserved for royalty and the super rich has now become more accessible. Jewelry makers are constantly using innovative design techniques to make rings with small stones and inferior clarity look extremely desirable. Colors which were previously considered unpopular, such as pale yellow, brown and grey are now marketed differently to increase demand. For example, pale yellow diamond rings are now marketed as champagne while brown diamonds are now popularly referred to as chocolate diamonds.
This brings us to the question, where do diamonds get their color? In this post, we reveal the basics of colored diamonds as well as talk about the elusive pink diamond.
Why Diamonds Have Different Colors?
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), recognizes 27 different colors of natural diamonds. The color ranges from brown and yellow to more expensive and luxurious hues such as pink and blue.
Diamonds are formed from the bonding of carbon atoms. If the diamond has no impurities, which is to say nothing other than carbon atoms, then they are perfectly colorless. However, when these diamonds contain atoms of substances other than diamond, even in the tiniest quantities, it develops a color.
For instance, diamonds with boron forms blue diamonds, which are more desirable than traditional white diamonds. Similarly, nitrogen impurity gives diamonds a yellow color.
If you are buying a white diamond, the stone is more valuable if they are colorless. For example, when buying a traditional diamond engagement ring, the color of the ring is one of the factors that would determine the price. And by color we mean lack of it. If you are looking to buy a white diamond, the clearer the shade is, the more valuable it is.
What Diamond Colors are Most Valuable?
Value of a colored diamond depends mostly on rarity. Yellow diamond, for instance, are common and thus less expensive. Red diamonds, on the other hand, are extremely rare followed closely by purple diamonds. All-natural pink diamonds are also one of the most exclusive diamond colors and are only found naturally in Western Australia and some parts of Brazil, India, and Tanzania. Blue diamonds are also notable in terms of their rarity. The Cullinan mine in South Africa is especially famous for producing brilliant blue diamonds.
Why Pink Diamonds Are Pink in Color?
As much as 90% of all-natural pink diamonds in the world are collected from the Argyle mine in Australia. This Western Australian mine is famous for producing the most exclusive and the most sought-after diamonds on the planet.
Unlike other colors such as blue and yellow, there is no exact answer to how a pink diamond gets its unique shade. As mentioned before, other colors of diamonds are formed due to impurities. However, pink diamonds have been subjected to many studies including inspection using mass spectrometers. These sophisticated machines are used by scientists to determine the presence of elements, even in the tinests quantities. As it turns out, pink diamonds do not have any impurities, which means how they get their color is a mystery. The most popular theory is that color was developed billions of years ago due to seismic shocks when the diamonds formed.
No matter what its origin story, there is no denying that pink diamonds are one of the most expensive and rare natural diamonds available in the market. Everyone from diamond collectors to celebrities want jewelry made from natural pink diamonds. Getting a hold of a real pink diamond that is graded by the GIA is difficult. There is also a lot of lab-made pink diamonds which are nowhere nearly as valuable as their natural counterparts. For instance, a 4-carat natural pink diamond costs around $1.7 million. A lab-grown pink diamond that has similar weight costs around $110,000. Lab-grown varieties are chemically and visually identical to natural stones. The only thing that influences its lower price is the fact that they are not created by mother nature. If you are shopping online, check out Leibish’s pink diamonds collection. The site features different diamond colors and has a great collection of pink Argyle diamonds.