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Most diamonds exhibit a tint of color. The
color is usually yellow or brown. Diamonds, can also be tinted, blue, green, red and
brown. These diamonds are called fancy colored and are extremely rare.
Diamonds with a light yellow or brown tint are the gemstone we commonly find in
jewelry.
Today, diamonds are typically grade on a scale developed by the Gemological Institute
of America. The scale runs from totally colorless to light yellow. A totally
colorless diamond would be graded as a "D" At the opposite end, a
light yellow diamond would be graded as "Z".
Subtle differences in color have a profound impact on price. The less color, the rarer the gemstone and the higher its value.
Look what happens to value when the color is
judged to be fancy
The color in a faint yellow or faint brown diamond is often masked by mounting the gem
in a yellow gold setting.
White metal often enhances a fancy colored diamond.
Cutters often leave a large culet on pear, oval and marquis shaped diamonds to enhance
color.
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Several years ago I visited a distinguished
diamond company in Europe. This firm had a long history. The company cut many of the
world's largest diamonds. They showed us a suite of diamonds they planned
to offer for sale.
You could see they were obviously proud of what they had.
The reason for all the excitement was these diamonds were all a vibrant reddish pink
color.
Reddish pink diamonds are so rare they were at a loss on how to determine
value.
Just as a priceless work of art painted by one of the Masters diamonds like these drive
the market to new highs. |
