Fancy color diamonds

On the white diamonds page it was discussed what four factors affect the value of a diamond, known as the 4 C’s. One of these 4 C’s is ‘Colour’. To grade a diamond's colour an alphabetical scale is used. This scale begins with the letter D. Diamonds with this grade are perfectly white / colourless, these diamonds are rare and very costly. The other end of the scale is Z and these diamonds are tinted white, occur more often and are less popular, which is why they are less valuable.

However the world of diamonds is not limited to the alphabetical scale. As soon as a diamond tint falls below the category Z it no longer gets called a tinted white diamond but a ‘fancy color diamond’. The normal tinted white diamonds are already extremely rare but only an estimated 5% of all the world's diamonds are fancy color diamonds.

Fancy color diamonds are graded on the basis of how intense the colour of the diamond is perceived. This is done using the GIA coloured diamond grading scale:

• Faint
• Very light
• light
• Fancy Light
• Fancy
• Fancy Dark
• Fancy Intense
• Fancy Deep
• Fancy Vivid

The costliest diamonds are Fancy Intense, Fancy deep and Fancy Vivid. The top of this scale is less costly as the colour is less intense.

Coloured diamonds from Lyppens jewellers

A fancy color diamond is well suited for one of the Lyppens mounts. Whether you are looking for a solitaire (single stone) ring or something with a little more sparkle, like a cluster ring or a three or five stone ring, nearly everything is possible. Should you already have something specific in mind, then one of the 3D designers can aid you in making your dream a reality.

Lyppens jewellers do not sell synthetic (lab-grown) diamonds or colour treated diamonds but only work with natural, naturally coloured diamonds.

Fancy yellow diamonds

The yellow in fancy yellow diamonds is caused by minute traces of nitrogen in the crystal lattice just like the diamonds mentioned in the section colour above. Once the diamond grades below the D-Z range it becomes a tinted yellow diamond and no longer a tinted white diamond.

Fancy brown diamonds

Fancy brown diamonds have been growing in popularity since the 1980’s. Australian diamond sellers started marketing a reasonably unpopular diamond colour as champagne diamond, cognac diamond and chocolate diamonds. Since this rebranding, brown diamonds have rapidly grown in popularity. The brown colour is actually caused by light that is absorbed by minute crystal structure defects within the gemstone. This is also the reason why a diamond can turn pink.

Black diamonds

Black diamonds are quite new in the jewellery industry, becoming very popular in the 1990s and early 2000’s. The black in black diamonds is actually caused by minute mineral crystals inside the stone giving the diamond its black colour. Black diamonds are praised for having a unique metallic lustre that is not seen in other colours.

Diamond occurs in a whole spectrum of colours like orange, pink, purple, blue, red and green. These colours are extremely rare. With the many years of experience and the network that Lyppens jewellers has established, the workshop is able to provide many beautiful and rare diamonds. Drop by in store to discover more.