Knowledge Centre > Extraordinary Jewellery > Rare Gems

Fancy Coloured Diamonds Revealed

Diamonds of fancy colour


Art Deco fancy coloured diamond ring, berganza hatton garden
Art Deco fancy coloured diamond cluster ring, circa 1925.
Ref: 24756

Most diamonds are white and range from colourless through to light yellow. Fancy colour diamonds are yellow and brown diamonds that exhibit colour beyond the Z range, or diamonds that exhibit any other colour when face-up. Coloured diamonds form when foreign particles are trapped during the crystallization process, these elements alter the chemical process and thus, changes the outcome. The result is a beautiful, rare, and exceptional diamond which is an anomaly of nature. According to the Gemmological Institue of America (GIA), only one in 10,000 natural diamonds is a coloured diamond.

 

Yellow diamonds, for example, can be attributed to one element, nitrogen. While a diamond is forming, nitrogen atoms will arrange in such a way that that blue light is absorbed, thus producing a yellow hue. Boron makes a blue diamond; natural radiation from nearby rocks trap electrons to create a green surface colour and red shades are thought to be due to changes to the electron structure during the voyage to the surface.

 

The colour of these diamonds is described in three ways, spectral colour of the diamond (hue); lightness and darkness of the hue (tone); and the colour’s strength (saturation). Fancy coloured diamonds value generally increases with the strength and purity of the colour. Large, vivid fancy coloured diamonds rings are extremely rare and very valuable. The largest red diamond in the world is the Moussaieff Red Diamond. It weighs 5.11 carats and is internally flawless. It was discovered in Brazil in the mid 1900's by a farmer and its estimated worth is $7 million dollars.

 

At Berganza we have yellow, brown and even a green diamond! If you would like to own your very own diamond with a fancy twist visit us in store or browse our entire collection online today.

Vintage fancy diamond coronet cluster ring berganza hatton garden
Vintage fancy diamond coronet cluster ring, circa 1970.
Ref: 24976
Edwardian fancy yellow diamond ring berganza hatton garden
Edwardian fancy yellow diamond three stone ring, circa 1905.
Ref: 24925
Fancy yellow flanked solitaire diamond ring, circa 1920.
Fancy yellow flanked solitaire diamond ring, circa 1920.
Ref: 24789
Fancy intense yellow diamond flanked solitaire ring hatton garden
Fancy intense yellow diamond flanked solitaire ring, circa 1950.
Ref: 28036
Vintage fancy coloured diamond crossover ring, circa 1950. Hatton Garden
Vintage fancy coloured diamond crossover ring, circa 1950.
Ref: 25672
Kutchinsky Fancy Colour Diamond Cluster Earrings, English, 1972. Hatton Garden
Kutchinsky Fancy Colour Diamond Cluster Earrings, English, 1972.
Ref: 27863
Fancy colour diamond cluster earrings circa 1915 hatton garden
Fancy colour diamond cluster earrings, circa 1915.
Ref: 28136


Email: info@berganza.com | Opening hours: Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 11am-5pm | All Stripe currencies supported

Updated 7/12/2024 at 3:36PM

|
© Berganza Ltd 2024