When many people think about diamonds, they will have a mental image of a light, clear sparkling, almost white gem. Whilst perfect diamonds are in fact clear and white, there are very many colored diamonds that are of equal or greater value. As one of the four C's considered when valuing diamonds, colors will be determined by the different facets of the gemstone.

Diamond that are free of structural flaws and chemicals will be clearly translucent with no color hue what so ever. This is very rare as most diamonds will contain natural structural imperfections with its crystal make up and according to the color and the intensity of its color, the value of the diamond will rise or fall. Normally yellow colored diamonds will be less expensive than that of white diamonds, but those like the Hope Diamond, are in fact considered more valuable. Intense blue coloring within a diamond makes it extremely rare, but the most sought after colored diamonds are those diamonds that have an intense red color.

Most mined colored diamonds fall into a color range from pale yellow to a light brown with the slight impurity from nitrogen infusing during its crystal growth and thus giving the stone its coloring. The vast majority of South African mined diamonds are considered to be clear, even if they do consist of a slight yellowing color. A number that appear as bright yellow or even dark brown, due to their nitrogen content are more commonly referred to as "Canary Diamonds."

Colored Diamonds - Standardized Grading

The industry began grading diamonds by color in the early days, then, there was not any established rules governing colored diamonds and any grading was typically done when sorting the rough diamonds for sale. When these gemstones arrived at the next level in the supply route, they were again sorted by size and color, but this time more attention was paid to the intensity of the stones color. Computerized tools are used today to grade colored diamonds, thus allowing a standardized procedure to make the process exact.

Colored diamonds that fall outside of the normal color scale are considered fancy diamonds, these, like the intense blue "Hope Diamond," become much in demand, and as such, become highly valuable. Its size of 45.52 carats does have a lot to do with its immense value. This particular gem is currently residing in the Smithsonian Institute.

Whilst many may think of colored diamonds as an exception, the odds of discovering a perfect diamond that has no structural flaws and is totally colorless are very low. Whilst they are found and processed, due to their unique nature they are very expensive.