Vibrant Colored Diamonds
By Wayne Hemrick
Exquisite diamond jewelry is not limited to colorless or clear diamonds.  Pieces of fine jewelry can also feature the vibrant or subdued tones of colored diamonds within their design.  While structurally, a diamond is a diamond, the appearance of colored diamonds differs as a result of the environment in which they develop.

Anyone who seeks to shop jewelry needs to be aware, however, that there are naturally occurring and synthetically colored diamonds.  Understanding the difference between the two is critical when selecting a piece of fine jewelry.

Coloration in diamonds

Diamonds come in every color of the spectrum. Conditions in the environment and the presence of specific minerals determine the shades of these gemstones.  While all diamonds are basically carbon-based structures, the presence of other minerals during a stone’s formation makes a difference.  Nitrogen, for example, creates yellow, brown and some shades of pink in diamonds.  Red, some green, violet and blue diamonds occur as a result of hydrogen atoms in their structure.  If boron is present, gray-blue colored diamonds result.

Conditions in the environment can also create colored diamonds.  Gamma radiation creates vibrant green diamonds, for example.  It also creates physical defects in the diamond crystals that create coloration in other diamonds.

Natural versus synthetic coloration

Coloration can also be created synthetically.  Diamonds with lower quality coloration, meaning otherwise clear diamonds with a yellow or brown hue, can be treated to create virtually any color.  The coloration process can also be used on synthetic or man-made diamonds.

In addition to their differing origins, the value of natural and synthetically colored diamonds is not the same.  Naturally occurring coloration is a rare thing.  As a result, diamond jewelry featuring these stones is given greater value.

The smarter way to shop jewelry

When browsing a diamond jeweler’s inventory, noting whether a stone has natural or synthetic coloration is an important part of the evaluation process.  Since organically created coloration is not an everyday occurrence, fine jewelry that showcases these stones can be a better investment.  Understandably, diamond jewelers’ collections of naturally colored stones tend to cost more than their pieces featuring synthetically colored stones.

It can be confusing to evaluate diamond jewelry’s quality while keeping in mind the amount you wish to spend.  Diamond jewelers can be a helpful resource during the process and make it easier to find the highest quality diamond that is within your budget.

Where Colored Diamonds Come From And How They Are Named
By Gregg Hall

A lot of people are starting to like the more colorful diamonds more than the original clear white diamond. A lot of diamond colors come from the earth from which they are mined, but others jewelers color to make them look good. So to make it cheaper on the buyer, jewelers have made less expensive stones that are just less in value to sell to those looking for a cheap stone.

Natural stones can be treated and cleaned with a high heat system called irradiation and other stones are painted to raise value. Many people like stones to have no color and consider them to be more of value but others enjoy the bright colors in their stones. Most colored diamonds are mined that way naturally. Some may turn green from heat and radiation others from nitrogen causing yellow stones.

The scales in which the two types are looked at are colored diamonds and regular diamonds. A colored stone is based on the blue colors found, and then they are scored on the potency of that color. If you were to have a very colorful shiny stone then it would probably be worth more than all your others put together. A treated diamond will often be more of value then a colored diamond unless the colored diamond you have you found.

A lot of all diamonds today are mined and still dug up but others have found ways to make these incredible stones. Even though a man made diamond is a synthetic diamond it’s still made in the same environment as a regular one. They are made in labs the same way they are created naturally, the process is just sped up a few million years!

Since colorful stones come in all kinds of colors it’s often hard to tell what the color is. Most of the time you will have two colors in the stone that are a greenish blue. Every stone has a color description and might even have a second description as well. If a diamond is called a blue stone than it probably is a blue shiny stone. If you have heard of a greenish blue diamond then you probably don’t even know what it is.

You will be thinking is it blue or green? The main color is the second one mentioned and the other seen as an adjective is second. So more than likely a greenish blue diamond is just a stone that’s blue with green highlights in it. Others may be all kinds of colors it all depends on the stone.