Now that you’ve decided to invest in a diamond, perhaps as an engagement ring, a gift for your loved one or maybe as an investment piece, it’s very important to understand the 4 C’s – these C’s form the value of your chosen stone. They tell you about the quality of stone you’re purchasing and stand for cut, colour, clarity and carat. You should take each into account when choosing your diamond.
Coloured diamonds have grown significantly in popularity in recent years. A coloured diamond refers to fancy colours, such as blue, pink, yellow or brown. These diamonds are valued for the intensity of their shade, different to the grading scale of white diamonds.
Coloured diamonds are mined exactly the same way as white diamonds but during their creation process beneath the Earth’s surface, little atoms get trapped inside the stone. These atoms are what alter the stone’s final colour. Nitrogen causes blue light to be absorbed in the growing diamond. This light changes its colour to yellow. Uranium creates green diamonds, although the green colour doesn’t penetrate the diamond, instead creating a green hue around the edge.
These are exceptionally rare and described as a ‘freak of nature’. Most pink diamonds are internally flawed so a pink stone with very few blemishes is considered rare and valuable (the Pink Star is a good example). In fact, pink diamonds generally cost up to 100 times more than colourless diamonds! Pink and red diamonds are mined from the Argyle Mine in Western Australia. This is one of the only places in the whole world that produces them. These diamonds are so valuable; they are often auctioned off directly from the mine.
These diamonds are generally brown and are far more affordable stones as they cost approximately 1/3 of the price of colourless stones. Lighter champagne diamonds sparkle more than darker stones and therefore champagnes with intense colour are considered more unusual, which results in being more expensive. Some champagne stones have a pink tinge and are more sought after, therefore they become more valuable and expensive.
Blue stones usually have a light greyish shade and are less expensive than colourless diamonds. The atom Uranium (as previously mentioned) creates green diamonds tinging the outer edge of the stone.
These coloured diamonds boast more colour than colourless diamonds rated Z on the scale. The intensity of their colour means they are priced similarly to white diamonds. That price varies depending on the intensity of the diamond colour. So a diamond that has a very intense colour will be more expensive.
These diamonds are often used in fashion jewellery and men’s accessories. They are usually low clarity, low graded diamonds and are generally the cheapest diamonds you can buy.
