Most diamonds, although not apparent at first glance, are slightly tinted yellow, grey or brown.

Diamonds form under intense heat and pressure; during such extreme conditions traces of other elements sometimes become incorporated into their atomic structure. These other elements contribute to a diamond's colour.

Diamonds are graded for colour upside down on a 45 degree angle in a white tray using balanced daylight. The diamond colour grading scale (seen below) uses the alphabet starting with colourless as "D" and as the stones become more tinted the grade moves down through the alphabet. The more colourless a diamond is the more rare it is. A change of one colour grade can effect value by approximately 7%.

COLOUR GRADING SCALE

The presence of subtle colour is not rare in diamonds, but the presence of strong colour is extremely rare. Some diamonds actually come out of the ground in well-defined reds, blues, pinks, greens and bright yellows - vivid colours known in the jewellery trade as "fancy." As with other diamond rarities, these stones are highly valued.

Colour can also be caused by man subjecting the diamonds to Irradiation. This can cause the diamond to change colour to an intense green, blue, teal or bronze. These offer the prized and rare intense colours at much lower prices.

You will be pleased to find that we stock a wide assortment of coloured and natural colour diamonds.