Which is the Rarest Diamond Color?

Good diamonds are fairly rare, no matter their color or clarity. There are many ‘bad’ diamonds, so flawed, discolored, included, and damaged that they cannot be used in jewelry at all. The best diamonds are very rare: translucent stones with no internal flaws visible at even quite high magnification, but even more rare than these icy gems are colored stones which are regular diamonds which were subject to other influences while being formed underground. That the stones survived the process, took on a good color from the external influence and then made it safely up to the surface makes a colored stone a very rare on indeed. However, often, colored stones are rejected as lacking that certain see-through quality that marks a D or E rated diamond. Let us take a look at some of the rarest diamond colors and how they were formed.

Green Diamond

Green diamonds, the color often a symbol of the sinister: jealousy, evil and envy, are created when the crystals are exposed to radioactive elements such as thorium or uranium while they are forming. Do not be alarmed – any trace of radioactivity is spent by the time the stone makes it to the surface, and wearing and handling green diamonds is no more dangerous than any other color. In fact, an even deep green color disseminated throughout the stone is very rare indeed, and the stone should be cherished as a very special item indeed. Usually the green tends to be found on one side of the stone, or in blotch-like patches which upon being removed can leech the unique color from the stone! Do be aware that it can be relatively easy for someone with the right knowledge to turn a diamond green – but these artificially colored stones are not as valuable as genuine green diamonds.

Orange Diamond

It is perhaps unfair that the fourth most rare diamond is caused by the same process that gives us the most common colored diamonds! Orange diamonds are formed when nitrogen interferes with the crystallizing process – as do yellow and brown diamonds which are fairly common for colored stones and therefore not as highly valued, unless the shade is deep and unique. Orange diamonds offer a depth of color that is very pleasing, making them both beautiful and rare!

Pink Diamond

Pink diamonds are not caused by the agency of any external element. Instead, they are formed when the diamond is under extraordinary pressure at the time of formation, which alters the lie of the internal lattice structure within the crystal – an alteration that reflects light with a pinkish hue.

Blue Diamond

Blue diamonds are created when boron interacts with the diamond while it is forming, but they are thought to be so rare because they form so very deep underground that it is unusual for an intact good-sized stone to make it all the way to the surface to be mined and found by a lucky diamond-hunter. Diamonds can be very light blue, like an aquamarine, or a deep blue that would not look out of place in a sapphire – for which blue diamonds were occasionally mistaken!

Red Diamond

As deep a red as a ruby and glittering with the allure of pure carbon, red diamonds are the rarest and most valued of all diamonds, with a good, high-quality red diamond going for excellent prices, no matter where in the world it is on offer. This is because, much like the pink diamonds, red diamonds are pure uncontaminated carbon. It is just in the case of the red diamond, the increased pressure has so tightly compressed the internal bonds of the carbon that the light that is reflected out is distorted with a deep red cast. The richer and deeper the color – the best having an almost purplish cast to them – the higher the value of the stone.

The world has come a long way from the days when any red stone was a ruby, any blue one a sapphire – but the allure and charm of diamonds, whether colored or not, seems to be eternal, with the stone remaining at the top of the gemstone bestseller lists year after year. Ensure your stone is a good one by insisting on certification from the AGS or the GIA for complete reassurance and peace of mind. If you would like to learn more on this subject, this impartial diamond color guide will point you in the right direction.