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NATURAL FANCY COLOURED DIAMONDS
Coloured diamonds, also known as “fancy diamonds”, are a stunning type of natural diamond available in an array of colours and tones. In the world of diamonds, rarity undoubtedly equals value, and fancy coloured diamonds are far rarer than traditional white stones.
With only one in 10,000 diamonds having a fancy colour, it’s clear why many experts consider natural fancy coloured diamonds to be the most highly prized of gems. Coloured diamonds boast dazzling brilliance and are available in several exquisite colours, from popular pinks and yellows to the rarest green, blue, orange and purple hues.
Colourless diamonds are valued upon their absence of colour using GIA’s D-to-Z colour-grading scale, decreasing in value as the colour becomes more obvious. Fancy diamonds are the opposite, with their value increasing as the depth of colour intensifies. Coloured diamonds, or “fancies”, exhibit colour beyond the Z range, with vivid fancy coloured diamonds extremely rare.
There are 12 colour variations of natural coloured diamonds and over 90 secondary hues, nine intensity levels, and more than 230 colour combinations. Their colours are typically muted rather than pure and strong, as they are often blended with other colours and muted by greyish or brownish tones. When you buy coloured diamonds, you’ll find large vivid coloured stones are the most valuable as they are so difficult to obtain.
The rarest and most valuable natural coloured diamonds are said to be red, green, purple and orange, with medium to dark tones and moderate saturations. These are followed by blue and pink diamonds. The most common colours are browns and yellows.
Black, grey, and fancy white are also variations of natural fancy coloured diamonds. Perhaps the most famous coloured diamond is the “Black Orlov” or “Eye of Brahma”, a 67.50-carat cushion-cut black diamond.
HOW ARE FANCY COLOURED DIAMONDS VALUED?
As with colourless diamonds, the value of natural coloured diamonds is gauged according to the 4Cs — diamond colour, clarity, cut, and carat weight. However, due to the uniqueness and rarity of fancy coloured diamonds, the colour of the stone is ranked as the most important attribute for defining the diamond’s value.
In contrast to colourless diamonds, a coloured diamond with numerous inclusions affecting its clarity grade may remain highly valued if its face-up colour is particularly attractive. However, inclusions that impact the durability of the gem can significantly lower a fancy coloured diamond’s value. Natural fancy coloured diamonds can also exhibit colour graining, which is considered an inclusion.
The following characteristics are used to describe the colour of a natural fancy coloured diamond:
- Hue — the diamond’s characteristic colour
- Tone — the colour’s relative lightness or darkness
- Saturation — the colour’s depth or strength.
FEATURES AND GRADING OF NATURAL COLOURED DIAMONDS
Within the international jewellery trade, there is a consensus that fancy coloured diamonds should display certain features to be classified as true “fancies”. These features are the presence of either a yellow or brown colour (with a higher colour than a Z master stone) or a colour other than yellow or brown.
Grading natural fancy coloured diamonds is a specialised and complex task. This is because coloured diamonds come in so many shades and there are simply too many variations to make a complete set of master stones. When the highly trained diamond graders at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) grade fancy coloured diamonds, they use a combination of comparison stones and printed standard colours to assist them in accurately identifying a diamond’s characteristic colour.
The GIA system for grading the colour of natural fancy coloured diamonds has been designed to consider the fact that not all coloured diamonds have the same depth of colour. For example, yellow diamonds are more widely found, while blue diamonds are rarer.
Once the diamond's characteristic colour has been determined, it will be assigned a colour grade. This consists of a characteristic colour modified by one of these grade terms, which signifies colour intensity:
- Faint
- Very Light
- Light
- Fancy Light
- Fancy
- Fancy Intense
- Fancy Vivid
- Fancy Dark
- Fancy Deep
Faint, very light and light are applied to all colours excluding yellow. Any diamond with a natural yellow colour stronger than the Z master stone will be termed “fancy light yellow”.
WHY OUR CLIENTS LOVE RÊVE
At Rêve Diamonds, we offer an unrivalled level of service and have an extensive inventory of high-quality diamonds to choose from. By sourcing and polishing our own diamonds, we cut out the middleman and pass on the savings to our customers.
Through our virtual and in-person consultations, we’ll help you find the perfect coloured diamond and talk you through your options for using it in a custom setting. Our expert jewellers can also create a bespoke engagement ring or another piece of jewellery to your exact specifications. Take a look at what our customers say about us:
“From the first appointment, Milena made the process of finding an engagement ring a really enjoyable process. There was no rush or pressure to choose straight away. Her expertise helped guide my decision and my fiancée loves her ring! She was so helpful in guiding what I wanted, giving me options and being flexible for appointments. I can't recommend Rêve enough!”
★★★★★
SPEAK TO AN EXPERT
If you’re looking for natural fancy coloured diamonds, our jewellery experts would love to help. Contact us with any questions or arrange an appointment at our London showroom. You can also reach us using the Live Chat facility on our site or by getting in touch via WhatsApp.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT COLOURED DIAMONDS
Natural fancy coloured diamonds are rare specimens that exhibit colour beyond the Z range of the GIA colour grading scale. The characteristics used to describe the colour of these stones are hue, tone and saturation. Coloured diamonds come in almost any colour you can imagine, with red, green, purple and orange being the rarest, followed by pink and blue. Yellows and browns are the most common fancy colours.
Yes, natural coloured diamonds are completely authentic. The colours exhibited by these stones have developed in nature over millions of years, formed when other elements interact with the carbon atoms during a diamond’s creation. Studies suggest nitrogen, boron and radiation can all affect the colour of a natural diamond.
Natural coloured diamonds are more expensive than white diamonds due to their rarity. The rarest coloured diamonds are significantly more expensive than traditional white diamonds, with a value that rises exponentially with each improved attribute. Intense or vivid diamonds have a strong colour and a much higher value than white diamonds of a similar size and clarity. Coloured diamonds range in price from thousands to millions of pounds, with value depending on the stone’s carat weight, cut, clarity and colour.
Red diamonds are the rarest fancy coloured diamonds, with only 20 to 30 natural red diamonds known to exist. If you want to buy coloured diamonds and have your heart set on natural red stones, you’d have to pay in excess of one million dollars per carat.
Unlike white diamonds, which tend to depreciate over time, coloured diamonds have consistently increased in value over the past few decades. Due to their rarity and high demand, fancy coloured diamonds have shown significant appreciation in their value compared to stocks and bonds.
