What are Fancy Colored Diamonds?

Mark: Hi, it’s Mark, Top Local Lead Generation in Vancouver talking with Sheetal Gupta of Maharani Jewels in Vancouver and we’re going to talk about what are fancy coloured diamonds? What are they?

Sheetal: Hi Mark, thanks so much for asking. So we’ve all heard of white diamonds, white diamonds are those that fall into the D to Z colour range and just to remind you of what that looks like, I’m going to remind you and take you over to GIA’s scale that shows you what the D to Z colour range is. So here you can see a white diamond that starts at D and goes all the way down to a Z. You can see how it’s a white diamond that has tints of yellow in it but when you go beyond this scale into a fancy colour scale it’s beyond the Z. Therefore, when a diamond possesses colour beyond this Z colour it becomes a fancy colour diamond which can be exponentially more rare and valuable vs a white diamond. The other thing is that in the D to Z colour range, what makes a diamond rare is the absence of colour whereas when it comes to a fancy coloured diamond having more colour is actually considered to be more rare. So that’s definitely what a fancy coloured diamond is.

Mark: So what colours does fancy coloured diamonds come in?

Sheetal: So Mark, you could think of any colour in the spectrum and a fancy coloured diamond comes in that. So in nature, you will find diamonds in every colour naturally.

Mark: And how is value determined in a coloured diamond?

Sheetal: So in a fancy coloured diamond, what determines value is the intensity of colour. So the actual colour grading scale is quite different and again I’m going to take you over to the scale that shows some of these differences. This picture here is showing you a yellow diamond, also called the canary diamond and you can see how the scale goes from Fancy Light to Fancy Vivid. Fancy Light will have the least saturation of colour in it whereas Fancy Vivid will show the most colour. Therefore, even if the diamond isn’t large in size, doesn’t have a high carat weight but if it’s a Fancy Vivid it will certainly possess a lot of rarity and hence value. So fancy coloured diamonds will definitely be the rarest when they are in the Fancy Vivid range.

Mark: And what colour diamonds are the most rare?

Sheetal: So the most rare diamonds are definitely going to be fancy pinks, reds, purple, green, blue, orange, those are definitely the most rare. However, popularity does play a role in the kind of value, so the pink diamonds and the blue diamonds are the most popular, therefore when you have a highly saturated pink, because of it’s demand and it’s popularity it can command a greater value than some of the other rare colours, such as orange or purple. Those are extremely rare but aren’t as popular.

Mark: And how important is clarity in a coloured diamond?

Sheetal: So when it comes to white diamonds, clarity is very important because you’ve got colour, you’ve got clarity, you’ve got the carat weight and of course you’ve got the cut and the clarity is one aspect which is just as important as the other. However, when it comes to fancy coloured diamonds, the most important attribute is the intensity of colour, therefore clarity doesn’t hold as much value. So you can have a highly saturated diamond, that is, let’s say a highly saturated pink diamond, it could be a vivid pink but it could also have a low clarity but still be incredibly rare and valuable because the colour plays a much bigger role than the clarity.

Mark: Awesome, thank you Sheetal. So if you’re looking for great value for your diamonds, custom diamond design, if you’re looking for honest expertise, a world leading expert on your diamond purchase the person to call is Sheetal Gupta. You can reach her at 604-727-0149, you have to call that number to book ahead if you want to go see her, that’s in Vancouver. Or you can also check out the website maharanijewels.com - the address is in the comments below. Thanks Sheetal

Sheetal: Thank you so much Mark.