Fancy coloured diamonds are diamonds that are prized for their saturation of colour. This colour is a product of trace elements in the diamond crystal structure.
Yellow diamonds are caused by nitrogen atoms. Fancy coloured yellow diamonds can vary from pale lemon yellow to vivid canary shades.
Brown diamonds are caused by shear pressure and heat during the formation of the diamond crystal.
Pink diamonds are also caused by the shear pressure during formation. Pink diamonds are incredibly rare. Pink diamonds have famously been sourced from the Argyle mine in Australia.
Black diamonds are caused by a build-up of inclusions that prevent light passing through the stone.
Blue and grey diamonds are caused by isolated boron atoms in the crystal structure.
Green diamonds are caused by radiation at the source of the crystal formation. Naturally formed diamonds with a green body colour are incredibly rare, and most natural green diamonds are ‘green skinned,’ meaning that the colour does not extend to the body of the stone and can be polished out during faceting.Fancy coloured diamonds are graded in a different way to regular diamonds, instead being prized for the colours hue, saturation and vividness. It is worth noting that fancy coloured diamonds are incredibly rare, many of the coloured diamonds available on the market are often treated to enhance colour, saturation and hue. Naturally occurring 'untreated' fancy coloured diamonds are known to be amongst the rarest, valuable and most highly prized minerals on earth.