Orange Diamonds
It is a little known fact that diamonds come naturally colored in the rare cases that certain elements and conditions interfere with their formation. There are yellow, pink, brown, blue, green, orange, purple, olive, black, white, red and grey natural colored diamonds.
However, for every ten thousand natural diamonds that are formed, only one of them will turn out to be colored. Hence, their rarity and extremely high value. Colored diamonds are valued based on the strength of their color according to a color intensity chart. The stronger the color, the more expensive and valuable the diamond is.
Colored diamonds are graded in the following manner: faint, very light, light, fancy, fancy intense, fancy vivid and fancy deep. The most sought after colored diamonds are those that are fancy vivid and fancy deep in color. But between a colored diamond and a colorless diamond, which one is more valuable?
This is really a matter of taste. And some colored diamonds are more expensive than colorless ones, depending on the cut, clarity and color of the former. We cannot really make any generalizations or sweeping statements. We should also take note of the difference between a diamond’s “fire” as opposed to a diamonds “color”. Fire refers to the ability of the diamond to refract and disperse white light. While body color is the light that travels through the diamond without it being dispersed.
Let us examine the orange diamond. In order for a naturally orange diamond to be formed, there must be nitrogen and carbon lattice present in its formation. Orange diamonds come in various shades. There are the pale or cantaloupe orange diamonds, bright flame orange diamonds, dull burnt orange diamonds and deep marigold orange diamonds.
It is very rare to find a pure orange diamond. Some orange diamonds come in a combination or a mixture of colors. There are the amber, apricot, autumn, carrot, cognac and salmon orange diamonds. Among the most notable orange diamonds is the Pumpkin Diamond. The Pumpkin is a fancy vivid orange diamond that weighs five point fifty-four carats, and is the largest in its class that the Gemmological Institute of America has ever rated as such.
The Pumpkin Diamond was mined in the Central African Republic. It was cut and polished by a man named William Goldberg. Subsequently, Ronald Winston purchased it for one point three million dollars. Now it has a selling price of three million dollars. In the 2002 Academy Awards, Halle Berry donned the Pumpkin Diamond on a ring, where it was set in between two white diamonds and was cut in a cushion shape. The Pumpkin Diamond was the perfect accessory on her finger, especially because she accepted her Best Actress Oscar Award with this diamond on her ring.
But for us mortals who do not have an Academy Award winning actress’ budget, what should we keep in mind when buying diamonds, colored or colorless? Well, the best advice is really to educate yourself about diamonds by reading literature and talking to experts about it. It really helps to gain as much understanding as you can from as many sources as possible, before plunging into making a big purchase.
