Are you a person that marches to the tune of a different drummer? Do you feel you are different, unique, with an avant garde personality? Then a colored diamond may be just the thing for you.

Most people shopping for a diamond and doing their research on the 4C’s will think that having color in a diamond is an undesirable characteristic but there is a class of diamonds where color is an asset to its value.

Diamonds of Color
Diamonds do come in different colors.  In fact they appear in all the different colors of the rainbow. These are fancy colored diamonds and they show up in red, blue, pink, green, orange, yellow and brown and all shades in between. There are even some diamonds that are photo sensitive, like dark glasses that change with different light intensities

Natural Colored Diamonds
Natural colored diamonds a quite rare and can be very expensive depending on its color. If you are looking to purchase a colored diamond, make sure to confirm its authenticity with a third party grading report from a respected laboratory such as GIA. You do not want to end up with colored glass.

Reasons for Color
Color in diamonds will appear because of the presence of trace elements or molecular changes in its crystalline structure. Nitrogen in a diamond will make it look yellow, orange, brown or greenish depending on its concentration. A green diamond may or may not contain nitrogen but its color may be determined by its bombardment of radiation turning it green. They may be radioactive. Boron will make a diamond blue and changes in the crystalline lattice structure may produce pink or red diamonds.

Affordable Alternatives
Some of you would really like to own a colored diamond but are disheartened because they appear to be price prohibited. Take heart, there are treated diamonds and synthetic colored diamonds that are available and more affordable. Color in diamonds can be induced with the exposure to irradiation then high heat. The color in these diamonds appears to be very stable; it could perhaps be altered by the extreme heat of a torch. Long term effects are not known. There are also synthetic colored diamonds that are grown in a laboratory replicating the conditions that natural diamonds are created. They are grown in a relatively short time and that makes it affordable. Synthetic diamonds are genuine diamonds. Treatments and synthetics colored diamonds should always come with a disclosure of its treatment or synthesis.

 

Mountings
A colored center diamond is magnificently enhanced with white diamonds surrounding it such as a halo setting. Small colored diamonds will also accent and enhance a white center diamond.There are many different setting styles to suit your taste.

When you are shopping for a colored diamond take your time and do your research. Learn the nomenclature and be familiar with the documentation needed to verify its authenticity. Certainly owning a colored diamond is its own personal pleasure and it will definitely define your individuality.