Introduction

Diamonds are not only colorless or white. There are tons of options to choose from! They come in every color of the rainbow, with blue, green, pink, and red being the most valuable of the color. The value generally increases with strength and purity of color. Large vivid colors are extremely rare and valuable. A lot of natural colored diamonds are actually somewhat muted rather than strong. The most rare colors are red, green, purple, and orange followed by pink and blue. Yellows and browns are considered most fancy but generally less valuable than the rarer colors.

Not all fancy colored diamonds will break the bank. Which is definitely good news! Some people prefer the colorless diamond to a yellow or brown. It’s all really personal preference.

When it comes to pricing, which is more expensive? There’s no straight answer to this one. It all depends. Fancy color diamonds can be split into 4 main color groups based on pricing.

Relatively affordable: You can create your own custom diamond piece using grey, brown (including chocolate and champagne) or yellow for much less than colorless or white.
Mid range: intense and vivid yellow & orange; prices may vary based on the existence or appearance of secondary hue, secondary color, and intensity of color. Pure orange is up there with high level diamonds. In this group there are diamonds with secondary brown or yellowish hue which dramatically reduces the cost. Still a less expensive option than white. Intense yellow or canary diamonds are close in price to white.
High price: pink, purple, violet, green, and blue. Darker colors of these colored diamonds tend to hide inclusions better. That means when considering a darker color diamond you could potentially purchase a lower clarity and costing much less
Ultra high: rarest diamond color red; extremely rare colored diamonds. These typically run more expensive than white. Red only comes in fancy intensity and other modifier colors are purplish red or browns. The most known red diamond is Moussaieff Red-a 5.11 ct pure red diamond.

Red diamonds are so rare that even if red is the secondary color or modifier, the price increases dramatically.

In 2013, Argyle Pink Diamond Tender a 1.56carat red diamond known as the Argyle Phoenix was sold for OVER 2 MILLION DOLLARS! (That means they paid over 1.25 million per carat!)

Unlike white diamonds, round cut isn't always the most flattering cut for color diamonds. Radiant and cushion tend to display color more.

Regardless of the color of the diamond, it is considered rare and their value will increase over time.

Colored diamonds use a combination of fancy grades and color descriptions to define a diamonds characteristic color:

Hue: Dominant color of the diamond; can be affected by the presence of “modifiers” or tints; additional hues within a gem.

Saturation:

Strength or intensity of the hue. Saturations can range from light to intense and darker.

Tone:

Refers to how light or dark the diamond appears. Typically determined by how much brown, black, grey, or white is present in the gem.

The 4 C’s also come into play for grading. Check out my blog post on the 4 cs of diamonds for more information! The GIA grading report color is detailed further by the following:

Origin: Is it natural or treated?

Grading the color

Hue, tone, saturation using the following grading: faint, very light, light, fancy light, fancy intense, fancy vivid, fancy dark, fancy deep. I will explain each in a moment.

Distribution: assesses how evenly spread the color is throughout the diamond-whether it is “even” or “uneven”

Fancy light: slightly darker tone or stronger saturation than a lighter grade.

Fancy intense: lighter tone, significantly stronger color saturation

Fancy vivid: lighter tone with strongest possible saturation; can only refer to diamond with a fully saturated darker blue.

Fancy dark: Darker tone with relatively strong saturation of color.

Fancy deep: Darkest tone with some color saturation; does not reach high levels of color saturation.

Secondary colors can also be present in the gem. If the secondary color is strong enough, GIA will add that modifier to the primary,

Since color is such an important element-purity and depth of color have a huge impact on the final price. Most is pure choice, but each does have their own specific characteristics and qualities as well as meaning.

Now let's go through each one: which one fits you?

Analysis of colored Diamonds