Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Yellow Diamonds - A Girl's Best Friend?

Natural yellow diamonds are fairly common among fancy colored diamonds, although significantly more rare than colorless diamonds. It is a frequent false impression that anatural yellow diamond is less valuable than a colorless diamonds. While very light or slightly yellow diamonds are thought to be quite common and not of a very great value, yellow diamonds for example intense and vivid are quite valuable.



Yellow diamonds with secondary brown hues are worth substantially less than pure yellow stones. However, secondary colors of green-yellow or orange-yellow can considerably increase the value of the stone due to the fact that these diamond colors are even scarcer than fancy yellow diamonds.



Natural fancy yellow diamonds are graded on the strength and intensity of color. The highest-quality grade is the Vivid Yellow, followed by the Intense Yellow diamond. The lowest quality of yellow diamond is the Light Yellow diamond, closely followed by the Fancy Yellow. Several shades of Vivid Yellow diamonds plus the rarer Intense Yellow diamonds are called Canary Diamonds. Canary diamonds are the rarest among yellow diamonds and as a result they cost much more and are desirable both by investors and classy clients. The canary diamond has a very distinctive shade of yellow, even if you have never seen a Canary Yellow, if you were to see one, you will “recognize” it immediately!



Yellow diamonds are generally set in yellow gold. When it comes to setting, yellow diamonds look superb if they are mixed with white stones, as the white diamonds create a strong color contrast. If you happen to choose a yellow diamond to be a center stone for your three stone ring, then it is recommended to add white side stones where trapeze, triangle or oval shapes can be a fantastic match.



Just as with other natural fancy color diamonds the color remains the main criterion that influences the value of the diamond, then comes size and clarity. Clarity is also important in evaluation of yellow diamonds, though this is much less than in traditional white diamonds.



The ideal cut for fancy colored diamonds is the Radiant cut. This is the perfect shape so that it is possible to maximize the color. Yellow diamonds, however, can also be found in Oval Cut an Cushion cut and in Heart and Pear shapes. The rarest are the Emerald, Square Emerald and the Brilliant cuts (round shape). Prices of these shapes are substantially higher for all fancy diamonds and not merely for yellow diamonds.



The cut quality of a colored diamond is very different to the traditional white diamond. The objective when cutting a color diamond is to maximize the depth and saturation of the diamond's color while managing to strike a balance between the carat weight and brilliance. When purchasing a natural yellow diamond or any other natural fancy color diamond, it is crucial to verify that the diamond is accompanied by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) grading report, or other trustworthy laboratories like HRD, IGI, EGL, stating that the color origin is natural. The report must also describe the intensity of color, plus how the color is distributed throughout the diamond.



The largest naturally formed octahedral diamond in the world is the Kimberley Octahedron and this is a Canary Diamond weighing 616 carats. This natural stone was discovered in 1964 in the Dutoitspan mine, located in the Kimberley region of South Africa. The Kimberley Octahedron is still uncut, which means that the color and distribution grades cannot be given to this stone. The owners of the mine choose to preserve the stone in the condition that it was found. This diamond is on display at the Kimberely Big Hole mine.

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