How would you feel about L to Z color if they were the rarest?

[Nicrez]

Date: 7/23/2007 1:26:12 PM
Author: JohnQuixote

Date: 7/23/2007 1:01:57 PM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 7/23/2007 12:49:14 PM
Author: JohnQuixote
Good answers but not quite there.

Green is more rare than yellow & brown. Blue is extremely rare.
Red diamonds are even more rare (and are most expensive) but not quite the most rare.

You said orange a while back, whats funny is they are more available than reds and blues on the market.
Which leads me too think they are not horded as much as reds and blues and that r&g are more common than anyone thinks.

Pure orange with no hint of brown is diamond''s rarest color says GIA (conspiracy theories aside).

Most of the oranges you see will be mixed with another color. Pure orange (also called ''true orange'') must start as a type 1B and then it must have color centers which mix together to produce the orange. They''re so rare scientists still don''t know definitively what causes their color. They say it is most likely a combo of chemical impurities & structural distortion.

Interesting! And here I was taught it was Green. Blue is rare, but I have seen more blues than reds. I have been lucky enough to see a few blues (and big ones) but even more lucky to see three reds. Wow. Matter of fact, I got to see a red once thanks to Mark at ERD who had a friend who showed it to me. Whoa.

Green however I have never really seen. I had a grey diamond submitted to GIA for color and they said if it has any green overtones the color testing will be delayed for weeks, even months, as they have to test that the most... hence why I thought it was green.

Frankly, my favorite diamond colors are not based on popularity, because I would NEVER buy a red diamond when ruby would be better, or a blue diamond when a sapphire to me would be ideal. I love white diamonds for somethings, and colored cape stones for others. Antiques would look silly with D colored stones I think...

 

[CaptAubrey]

Speaking holistically (considering not just hue but also saturation), strong natural blue-green is the rarest color. Pure orange as a hue is extremely rare, but there are almost no known examples of deeply saturated natural-color blue-green diamonds. The only example I''m aware of was the stone that was part of the Splendor of Diamonds exhibit at the Smithsonian.

Green rough is fairly common because many diamonds can acquire a green "skin" from being buried in radioactive minerals after emplacement in kimberlite, but this this is almost always shallow (because of the type of radiation involved) and polished away during faceting. An even, homogenous blue-green color can only be created if the diamond is exposed to high-energy penetrating radiation, something you don''t get in a kimberlite.

Dave is correct that there is by no means an even distribution from D to Z. Especially within a specific mine and a specific pipe, color variation can be all over the map. Colorless diamonds are very rare at, for example, Argyle, but unusually common in some of the Canadian mines.

I think the only people who really know the true color distribution across the board are De Beers, and they aren''t telling.

 

[JohnQuixote]

The yellow-green and brown-green varieties are usually light in tone. In a 'pizzaz' sense they won't have as much commercial appeal as other green gemstones. The Dresden Green has been on my must-see list in Germany. The Smithsonian exhibit was before my time in the trade so I looked it up and you may be talking about the Ocean Dream, Cap'n? Pretty amazing that both of these examples were naturally positioned so that natural radiation did its magic - the Dresden Green is 41 cts with uniform color, called 'Fancy-Green' by GIA but described as apple green.

Not sure; does color distrubution have anything to do with the age of the pipes? Though they are the newest 'finds' Canada's cratons are thought to be the world's oldest.

 

[Fly Girl]

I think that the price discount given to the faintest tint of color is way out of proportion to the amount of color in a diamond. That''s why I finally got my J SI1 stones for earrings after discovering PS! They were an absolute bargain, and they look every bit as good as a G VS. It is hard to find nice clean and well cut L to Z diamonds. I think if they were perceived to be rare, the price would be so much higher.

I love colored diamonds. I don''t even mind if they have been irradiated. One of my local jewelers has gotten the message and is now stocking irradiated blue and green diamonds. They are well cut, sparkle like crazy, are incredibly beautiful, and are a real bargain. How cool is that!

 

[CaptAubrey]

Date: 7/23/2007 4:39:25 PM
Author: JohnQuixote
The yellow-green and brown-green varieties are usually light in tone. In a ''pizzaz'' sense they won''t have as much commercial appeal as other green gemstones. The Dresden Green has been on my must-see list in Germany. The Smithsonian exhibit was before my time in the trade so I looked it up and you may be talking about the Ocean Dream, Cap''n? Pretty amazing that both of these examples were naturally positioned so that natural radiation did its magic - the Dresden Green is 41 cts with uniform color, called ''Fancy-Green'' by GIA but described as apple green.

Yep , that''s the one. I happen to know the head of colored diamond grading at the GIA NY lab fairly well, and we had a discussion on this subject some years ago. He said that stone is about as close to "unique" as you''re going to get in the diamond world.

Not sure; does color distrubution have anything to do with the age of the pipes? Though they are the newest ''finds'' Canada''s cratons are thought to be the world''s oldest.

That''s an interesting question, and not one I''ve considered before. Keep in mind the age of a pipe and the age of its diamonds are two different things, since diamonds form in the mantle and may reside there for quite some time before being brought to the surface by kimberlite vulcanism. I''m not sure anyone has even studied this. My gut feeling is no, since most diamond colors are related to either chemical impurities (N, Bo) or things that happen in the mantle (plastic deformation). But the older a kimberlite, the less time a diamond may have spent in the mantle, and perhaps this might effect color distribution.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 7/23/2007 5:50:05 PM
Author: CaptAubrey

That's an interesting question, and not one I've considered before. Keep in mind the age of a pipe and the age of its diamonds are two different things, since diamonds form in the mantle and may reside there for quite some time before being brought to the surface by kimberlite vulcanism. I'm not sure anyone has even studied this. My gut feeling is no, since most diamond colors are related to either chemical impurities (N, Bo) or things that happen in the mantle (plastic deformation). But the older a kimberlite, the less time a diamond may have spent in the mantle, and perhaps this might effect color distribution.

The diamond-producing subduction could have occured farther in the past in older cratons. There may be nothing to this - it may all be about the chemicals present in the geography of the area (take Argyle for example) - I was just thinking about these green diamonds, exposed to natural radiation for thousands or millions of years. Both strength of the source and amount of time can make a difference in color uniformity and saturation. Of course, both the Dresden Green and the Ocean Dream came from Africa...so as it relates to those pipes I may just be blowing smoke (rimshot).

 

[CaptAubrey]

Date: 7/23/2007 6:27:31 PM
Author: JohnQuixote

The diamond-producing subduction could have occured farther in the past in older cratons. There may be nothing to this - it may all be about the chemicals present in the geography of the area (take Argyle for example) - I was just thinking about these green diamonds, exposed to natural radiation for thousands or millions of years. Both strength of the source and amount of time can make a difference in color uniformity and saturation. Of course, both the Dresden Green and the Ocean Dream came from Africa...so as it relates to those pipes I may just be blowing smoke (rimshot).

My understanding is that green diamonds become green after emplacement. But there being so few diamonds like the Dresden, it's impossible to generalize about those. However, heat will generally destroy radiation-induced color and both the mantle and kimberlite magma are pretty hot, so I have a hard time imagining that too many green diamonds come up the pipe already green.

I believe the conventional wisdom is that the Dresden came from India, but no one really knows for sure.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 7/23/2007 7:27:49 PM
Author: CaptAubrey


My understanding is that green diamonds become green after emplacement. But there being so few diamonds like the Dresden, it's impossible to generalize about those. However, heat will generally destroy radiation-induced color and both the mantle and kimberlite magma are pretty hot, so I have a hard time imagining that too many green diamonds come up the pipe already green.

I believe the conventional wisdom is that the Dresden came from India, but no one really knows for sure.

You're right about the Dresden - I had my histories confused. I'll keep mulling my craton-age theory for fun, since the older the landmass the longer ago those pipes could have brought rough deposits somewhere they could be irradiated. I just won't hang a hat on it.

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

Date: 7/22/2007 10:11:38 PM
Author: Hest88

Author: sera
I like both the white and the fancies... but I don''t typically like something in between. If I want a white diamond, I want the whitest I can get... I love the colored fire that comes out of a white diamond. If I were in the market for a yellow diamond, I would want it obviously yellow and not washed out.

This is how I feel. I love the purity of an icy diamond--like the purity of new snow, and the vibrancy of a bright yellow diamond. Cream? Not so much.

Kong, I also don''t think you draw an analogy between cream walls and diamonds; people like cream walls because they''re soothing and make a nice neutral backdrop. However, people normally don''t want diamonds that fade into the background!

I havent gotten to read all the post yet. But I had a .61ct H diamond and several people commented on how it looked so large and substantial from the side profile view (many of them had ovals \). \I noticed with the H color I could always see the diamond clearly from all angles. But now I have an E color, and I can hardly see it from the profile view at all. It just disappears into the air and you have to really focus your eyes to see the facets and culet, etc. While i do not regret going with the E for the Engagement ring, if I do upgrade I will probably try to choose a center stone of F or G color, so that it is nice and white, but still with enough color to leave the lines and defintion of the diamond clearly visible from all angles.

That being said, aside from teh natural color of the diamond it is one incredibly white beast face up. And the whiteness in a dimly lit hallway when the adjacent rooms are lit but there is no direct overhead light. Holy crap, those diamonds can reflect some white light, absolutely stunning.