Natural Colored Diamonds – What are they?

When I wrote my last post about Jennifer Lopez’s 14-carat blue diamond ring, I realized colored diamonds remain mystifying gemstones to many. And while natural colored diamonds are more and more seen making an appearance on the red carpet adorning our favorite celebs ... Diamonds are more or less commonly perceived to be colorless and probably that is why colored diamonds were even thought of as synthetics.

So here is a quick overview of what colored diamonds actually are ..

Colored diamonds can be interpreted as a beautiful adulteration of nature. Diamond in its purest state would be made up of all carbon atoms and such diamond would be colorless and transparent. However, such diamonds are very rare; often certain chemical impurities become a part diamond’s crystal structure and thus imparting it various colors.

Most diamonds that are used in jewelry have yellow and brown tints. While these are the most common colors, diamonds come in a wide hue of colors such as blue, orange, pink, black, red and even green. As the color becomes more prominent, these rocks are termed as fancy colored diamonds. There are about 300 various shades and hues of diamonds that have already been identified.

Fancy colored diamonds are very rare, thus they come with a price tag which can make anyone gasp. But then, not all fancy diamonds are outrageously expensive, black diamonds and brown diamonds can be given their relative abundance can be bought at decent prices.

Colored Diamonds aren’t a new Concept

Given the recent limelight that natural colored diamonds have got, many believe that these fancy diamonds are some new concept. But, it is so not the case. Natural colored diamonds have been in existence for as long as diamonds have been known. The ancient Golconda mines of India, which are the oldest diamonds mines in the world.produced some of the finest and the largest blue and pink diamonds including hope diamond, koh-i-noor, darya-i-noor.