Welcome to the 2nd part of our series which explores all 12 fancy-coloured diamonds.
In our previous article: Fancy Diamond Guide - Blue, Red, Brown and Green, we discovered the formation behind the likes of blue and red diamonds.
In this guide, you'll learn the stories behind:
Kicking off part 2 are yellow diamonds which are not to be confused with natural diamonds with a poor colour quality.
Image Via - Cape Town Diamond Museum
After brown fancy-coloured diamonds, next up on the common scale are yellow fancy-coloured diamonds.
After being exposed to nitrogen, the diamond develops a yellow colour which ranges from a light colour to an intense and vibrant hue with the latter being hard to find.
Trivia - A yellow diamond can have a secondary colour such as brown or orange.
Image Via - Leibish
The demand for diamonds of this hue only became apparent in the late 90s. They are essentially small crystals stuck together making them one of the most durable of all.
It's believed that traces of graphite, found in the structure during the diamond's formation, is the reason behind its colour.
It must be noted that black diamonds can be treated, so it's important to get as much information as you can if you want to buy one.
When a diamond is treated, their colour will be artificially changed by replicating the conditions they were formed in. For example, exposing the stone to high temperatures and pressure.
Trivia - There is only one grade for these diamonds, fancy black.
Image Via - Leibish
Yes, they are real!
They have a milky/snow-like colour but are opaque in nature.
Their story is interesting. So, the reason behind their colour can be found in the submicroscopic inclusions which disperses light and this results in the snowy colour you see.
Trivia - submicroscopic inclusions is still a grey area and the jury is still out but right now? It's leaning towards the presence of nitrogen in the diamond's structure.
They are difficult to find and, similar to fancy black-coloured diamonds, they have one colour grade, fancy white.
Image Via - Bespoke Diamonds.ie
Grey diamonds are quite unique as they can be formed in two different ways!
The belief is that they are saturated with boron or hydrogen.
Grey fancy-coloured diamonds are subject to a wide colour scale ranging from faint to deep and the diamond itself can contain a secondary colour such as blue which creates a stunning finish!
What was your favourite story? Hit the comments and let us know!
For us, it's the grey diamonds. Their unusual case just makes you wonder what it's like during the formation of these fascinating stones and seeing their transition.
Fancy-coloured diamonds will continue to be a mystery for all of us but it doesn't stop us going deeper into their underlying features.
Look out for the final part of our series!
Check out more stories on the journal.