Fancy Colored Diamonds
Diamonds come in all possible colors imaginable, from blue, to yellow, to green, and even to red. When the color of a diamond is sufficiently obvious, the stone is not graded on the same D-Z scale as colorless diamonds. We call this category of diamonds Fancy Colored.
Just like colorless diamonds, the pricing is based on the four C's. However, in this category, color is the most important determinant of rarity and price. The color is graded in detail and differences in these color grades can command massive price differences due to rarity.
The first factor a skilled grader or diamond dealer will assess is the stone's primary color. Primary diamond colors in increasing rarity are brown, yellow, green, pink, blue, orange, purple, red, and violet. In small sizes, brown and yellow diamonds are widely commercially available and are from time to time used by large jewelry houses in their product lines. Stones of the other colors are so rare that they are considered collector's items. These diamonds are so scarce and prohibitively expensive for the general population that jewelry houses do not usually include these in their product lines and only source them when specifically requested.
After determining the primary color, one must determine the overtone. Most collectors have a preference for stones with no overtone as these are usually rarer, however, some overtones can make a stone more desirable. The overtone colors are the same as the primary colors. The intensity of the overtone can also vary, for example a Fancy Brownish-Pink diamond has a softer brown overtone than a Fancy Brown-Pink diamond. The last word always refers to the primary color and any colors before refer to overtone.
Once the primary color and overtones have been identified, the diamond professional will attempt to assess the intensity of the color. Intensity ranges in grades from weakest to strongest as follows: Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid. The stronger the intensity, the scarcer the stone is, and the higher the price it commands.
As primary manufacturers and dealers of fancy colored diamonds we take great speculative risks when buying a rough colored diamond as we can never know with certainty what color grade will be assigned by the gemological laboratory to the stone once it has been polished. Only through our experience have we been able to cultivate our expertise and become a global reference within the fancy colored diamond segment.
If you would like to learn more about fancy colored diamonds, we invite you to schedule a complimentary free 30 minute consultation with one of our team members.
