| Type | Prevalence | Inherent Feature | Colors |
| 1a | 98% | Clustered Nitrogen Atoms | Colourless, Yellow |
| 1b | 0.1% | Scattered Nitrogen Atoms | Yellow, Orange, Brown |
| 2a | 1 - 2% | Highly Pure Carbon | Colourless, Yellow, Brown, Pink, Purple |
| 2b | 0.1% | Boron Atoms | Blue, Gray |
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| Amongst the rarest and most valuable colored diamonds are vibrant reds. Natural red diamonds are so rare that even most jewellers have never seen one. The world's largest red diamond is known as the Red Shield, and weighs "only" 5.11 carats, compared with over 600 carats for the largest diamond of any kind | The pink diamond is also amongst the world's rare and valuable diamond. Most fancy natural pink diamonds come from the Argyle mine in northwestern Australia. Red, purple and orange are the secondary hues found in natural fancy pink diamonds. | Fancy green diamonds~ usually penetration of the color is not very deep Natural fancy Green diamonds are completely natural and caused by exposure to atomic radiation. After natural fancy red/purple diamonds, perhaps, natural loose green diamonds are the second rarest. | Purple is one of the rarest and most desirable colours. Natural purple diamonds remain so rare, that one may never find any. | Fancy blue diamonds are available in a wide range of shades, from the blue of the sky to a more "steely" colour than sapphire. Natural fancy blue diamonds range from the pale to brilliant blue diamonds and intense blue and are usually classified as either gray-blue or green-blue. |
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| Champagne diamonds are naturally coloured diamonds that are produced in a wide range of colors from light straw to rich cognac. The diamonds are graded on a C1-C7 colour scale. C1 and C2 represent light champagne, C3 and C4 medium champagne, and C5 and C6 dark champagne. The fancy cognac diamond is graded C7. | Fancy intense orange is a rare and desirable colour for a diamond. Natural fancy coloured are very rare and expensive. Mr. William Goldberg cut n polished the famous 'Pumpkin' diamond, a fancy vivid orange diamond, finished weight of 5.54 cts, bought by Mr. Ronald Winston. |
Fancy yellow diamonds come in a broad range of shades ranging from light yellow to a rich canary colour. Green and orange are the secondary hues found in natural fancy yellow diamonds. |
The cause of natural black colour is black inclusion such as graphite or iron minerals, and the body colour of the stone is not black. Due to the high amount of these dark inclusions, natural black diamonds are generally opaque. | White Diamonds : White diamonds are produced by mines all over the world in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. |
It can be a single color ("yellow"), or a combination of colors ("greenish-yellow"). If two terms are used, the second one is the predominant color.
The second aspect is the Intensity, which is defined both as a function of the saturation of the color (how strong the color is) and as a function of whether the color is light or dark.
The intensity is indicated by adding a prefix to the color: faint, light, normal, intense, vivid, or deep/dark.
As a general rule, a faint color can only be seen when the stone is compared to a colorless diamond.
A "normally" intense color will have no prefix.
Intense, vivid and deep means that the color is strong, but indicates increasing degrees of darkness.
"Fancy" is sometimes put in front of the color.
This indicates that the diamond is exceptionally attractive, and is used in conjunction with all prefixes except "faint" (i.e., a faint stone cannot be "fancy").
The appearance of color is created from the combined effect of three elements:
- hue - the predominant color
- tone - the darkness of the color
- saturation - the intensity of the color
Colored diamonds are described based on their predominant hue, such as "pink." If for example, the fancy diamond contains hints of a secondary color such as purple, it will be described as "purplish pink." The use of "ish" indicates the subtle presence of purple. However, a fancy diamond described "brown pink" means that the appearance of both colors is virtually even throughout the stone.
The "GIA" uses specific grades to identify the ranges of color :
- Faint
- Very light
- Light
- Fancy Light
- Fancy
- Fancy Intense
- Fancy Dark
- Fancy Deep
- Fancy Vivid
In light of the growing interest in color diamonds it is important to clear the confusion between treated or synthetic diamonds on the one hand, and natural color diamonds on the other.
Technological developments now allow us to create diamonds of almost any color, either completely artificially or from natural diamonds whose color is unattractive (not clearly defined, yellowish, brownish etc). Such stones can be manufactured at will, resulting in the production of goods that are the exact contrary of what they are substituting for: diamonds by definition are unique, rare, and exceptional.
A natural color diamond is unique. It is a product of nature, shaped by millions of years of crystallization. Its color is the product of chance and no two natural color diamonds can be identical: it is this uniqueness, this rareness that gives them all their value.
Natural and treated color diamonds are two completely different products that operate on two completely different markets. The intrinsic value and the price of each of these cannot even begin to be compared. And the confusion which now exists - and some would say is willfully created by some manufacturers of treated diamonds - is dangerous since it will impact on consumer confidence.
Natural color diamonds are to be considered like any authentic work of art - a painting by a Master, an ancient sculpture, a signed piece of furniture, etc. Treated or synthetic diamonds are only pale imitations, created by the thousands and sold at low cost - just as is the case for copied works of art.
Natural color diamonds are a stable investment whose value has only increased over the past 25 years.
Treated or synthetic diamonds on the other hand only have long-term setbacks :
- They may be cheaper to buy, however their resale value is almost zero;
- No serious auction house would accept to put such stones up for sale and no serious buyer would want them;
- Colors obtained through treatment are not stable and can change with time - the long-term effects of such treatments are not well known.
It is therefore indispensable, before purchasing a color diamond, to obtain a guarantee from the seller - or a certificate from an approved laboratory - stating the origin of the stone, and certifying the natural origin of its color .