How are Diamonds Colored?
Naturally colored diamonds are
rare and
expensive, but new techniquesfor coloring
diamonds can create affordable versions.
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 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.
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 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.
|