Fancy Coloured Diamonds: Yellow, Pink, and Blue Diamonds Explained
Most diamonds sold for fine jewellery are assessed for how close they come to colourlessness — the D to Z colour scale exists to measure the absence of colour. Fancy coloured diamonds are an entirely different category: diamonds prized specifically for the presence and intensity of their colour. They are among the rarest and most valuable materials in the world of fine jewellery.
What Makes a Diamond Fancy Coloured
Most diamonds acquire their colour from trace elements or structural anomalies during formation. Yellow and brown diamonds are coloured by nitrogen atoms incorporated into the crystal lattice. Blue diamonds contain boron. Pink and red diamonds — the rarest of all — derive their colour from a structural distortion in the crystal called plastic deformation, the precise mechanism of which is still not entirely understood.
A diamond is classified as fancy coloured when its colour is strong enough to be attractive rather than detrimental. On the GIA colour scale for white diamonds, colour becomes noticeable (and undesirable) below H. In fancy coloured diamonds, a different scale applies — Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Deep, and Fancy Dark — with Fancy Vivid representing the highest commercial value for most colours.
Yellow Diamonds
Yellow diamonds are the most commercially accessible of the fancy coloured category. They range from pale lemon to deep canary and rich golden tones. The most sought-after grades for yellow diamonds are Fancy Intense Yellow and Fancy Vivid Yellow, where the colour is saturated and unambiguous.
Natural fancy yellow diamonds command significant premiums over comparable colourless diamonds, but are substantially more accessible than pink or blue diamonds. Lab-grown yellow diamonds are also available and offer strong colour at considerably lower prices — they have become an increasingly popular choice for buyers who want the bold visual statement of a yellow diamond without the cost of a natural stone.
Yellow diamonds look their best in yellow gold settings, which amplify and harmonise with the warm tone of the stone. In white metal settings, a yellow diamond creates a strong contrast that is also beautiful but produces a different aesthetic character.
Pink Diamonds
Pink diamonds are among the rarest gemstones in existence. For most of the twentieth century, the Argyle Mine in Western Australia was the dominant source of the world’s pink diamonds, producing the majority of commercially available stones. The Argyle Mine closed in 2020, and the supply of natural pink diamonds has contracted significantly since. Prices have risen accordingly.
The most valuable natural pink diamonds are Fancy Vivid Pink — a grade that, for a stone of meaningful size, can command prices in the millions per carat. For buyers who want the aesthetic of a pink diamond without the extraordinary cost of a natural Argyle stone, lab-grown pink diamonds are now produced in excellent quality and offer genuine visual appeal at a fraction of the price.
Pink diamonds suit rose gold and white gold equally, depending on whether you want the metal to harmonise with or contrast the colour of the stone.
Blue Diamonds
Natural blue diamonds are the rarest of the major fancy colours and are associated with some of the most famous diamonds in history. The Hope Diamond and the Blue Moon of Josephine are blue diamonds. At the finest grades, natural blue diamonds are extraordinarily expensive.
Lab-grown blue diamonds are available in strong Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid grades. The colour in lab-grown blue diamonds is consistent and stable. They offer a genuinely striking and unusual choice for buyers who want something distinctive at a manageable price point.
Blue diamonds are typically set in white gold or platinum, which allows the colour to read clearly without competition from warm metal tones. A round brilliant blue diamond in a platinum four-prong solitaire is one of the most striking ring designs possible.
Other Fancy Colours
Green diamonds (coloured by natural irradiation), orange diamonds, and the extremely rare red and violet diamonds complete the spectrum. Red diamonds are the most valuable fancy coloured diamonds — a natural Fancy Red above one carat is one of the rarest collectible objects in the world. Most commercially available red diamonds are very small.
Fancy Coloured Diamonds in Engagement Rings and Si Dian Zuan
Fancy coloured diamonds make distinctive choices for engagement rings and, increasingly, for Si Dian Zuan sets where a couple wants something that stands apart from the standard diamond aesthetic. A yellow or pink diamond centre stone in an engagement ring, surrounded by a white diamond halo or accented by white diamond shoulder stones, is a striking and photogenic combination.
For Si Dian Zuan sets, incorporating a fancy coloured diamond into one piece — typically the engagement ring — while using white diamonds in the bangle, earrings, and necklace allows the coloured diamond to serve as the statement piece without requiring coloured stones throughout.
Buying Fancy Coloured Diamonds
GIA certifies fancy coloured diamonds on the colour grade scale described above. For natural fancy coloured diamonds, the GIA Colored Diamond Grading Report is the appropriate certificate. For lab-grown fancy coloured diamonds, GIA and IGI both issue certificates that confirm the colour grade and the laboratory origin.
Viewing the stone in person is particularly important for fancy coloured diamonds, because colour perception is highly subjective and images rarely capture the true saturation and character of a coloured stone accurately.