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A fancy Diamond is any Diamond with a deep color. Fancy Diamonds are also known as colored Diamonds, and both these terms are acceptable and interchangable. Any type of color can make a Diamond a fancy, and Diamonds can form in all different shades of colors. Diamonds are usually colorless to very lightly tinted. Deeply colored Diamonds are very rare and can command very high value. A totally and completely pure Diamond would possess only the element carbon, and nothing else. However, impurites are usually present in trace amounts, giving most Diamond a very minor color shade such as yellow and brown. When the impurities form in a certain way they can cause the deep and rare colors presented in fancy Diamonds. Interestingly, it is the impurities that make these Diamonds so incredibly unique and beautiful.
Different elements within the structure of the diamonds cause different colors to be shown. Furthermore, the different levels of compound elements directly affect the hue and the colors found.
Here is a description of the various different elements which cause the most popular diamond colors in the market:
Yellow, Brown, and Orange Diamonds
These have become very popular recently, and some of Hollywood's most famous flaunt
their fancy yellow Diamond jewelry. Yellow stones currently hold the highest market demand of the various different colors available.
The concentration of nitrogen combined with the carbon most often causes the yellow coloring in the stones. The many shades of brown Diamonds and orange Diamonds are caused by different levels of nitrogen and Carbon as well.
Pink Diamonds
More than any other fancy color, certain shades of pink possess what seems to be the most promising returns in colored Diamonds. Pink holds the second place immediately after yellow for highest market demand, but pink is far rarer and much more expensive.
Although many hypotheses have been made, the cause of the pink color is still not clear. A possible theory in the formation of pink Diamonds is that the color is the results of the enormous amount of pressure placed on these stones over time which causes internal and external graining, referred to as 'plastic deformation'.
Red Diamonds
The rarest of all the colored Diamonds, red Diamonds can have a deep red to maroon color. Like pink Diamonds, the color formation is not fully understood, and the theories that explain pink are applied to red as well.
Blue Diamonds
Results of Christie's and Sotheby's, the world's largest auction houses, have proven remarkable price records for fancy blue Diamonds. This royal and extremely luxurious color holds a strong place in the heart of many collectors and diamond enthusiasts. The combination of Boron and Carbon is what causes different shades of blue colors in the stones.
Green Diamonds
Hues can range from ligher minty hues to a deep green. Aqua colors are also known. Unlike any of the other colored Diamonds, the magnificent green color in the stones is actually a result of natural gamma radiation.
Naturally, multiple elements can be found in the structure of a stone causing different shades or secondary hues. For example, a diamond with a little nitrogen mixed in with the carbon that is exposed to enough radiation to cause a green coloring may end up with a permanent yellowish-green hue.
Fancy color Diamonds are one of the world's greatest examples of how in some scenarios the common impurities in the molecular structure of an item can be the direct cause of the most pleasing and exquisite beauty.
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