Choosing Fancy Colored DiamondsColored diamonds are stones with a natural body color (other than light yellow, light brown and light grey). They contain internal impurities or structural defects that cause their color, whilst pure loose diamonds are perfectly transparent (colorless) with no hue. All diamonds with a detectable hue for example red, green, pink, etc, are called "Fancies" and are extremely rare and more expensive than the blue white diamonds (colorless stones). Fancy colored diamonds includes black, blue, brown, champagne, cognac, green, orange, pink, purple, red, violet and yellow, almost every color of the rainbow.
Yellow diamonds are the most common in colored stone. A diamond's color can either enhance or reduce its value, the more intense the color is on colored stones, the more expensive the stone will be, whilst the traces of yellow hue in blue white stone reduces the price dramatically.
FluorescenceFluorescence is the amount of light which emanates from certain loose diamonds when exposed to ultraviolet light. Although fluorescence is not suitable for blue white stones (it gives cloudy effect which affects the brilliance & prism of the diamond) it is important for colored stones, because it can improve the appearance of diamonds that contain traces of color. Fluorescence in colored stones is described as follows:
Color GradingThe color grading of the colorless diamonds ranges from D - Z (D is truly colorless & Z is the darkest Yellow), whilst colored diamonds have more color than Z color grade. Color Grading of fancy colored stones is categorized into three elements: HueRefers to the dominant color within a loose diamond (such as red, green, pink, blue, etc).ToneRefers to the amount of lightness or darkness within a natural colored diamond. The range of tone varies from light to dark.SaturationRefers to the strength or intensity of the color within fancy diamonds. The saturation of color in diamonds can vary from faint to fancy deep and fancy vivid.The saturation of color in colored fancy diamonds is as follows:
Fancy diamonds have variety of shades and most of them consist of primary and secondary color.  Secondary ColorSecondary color precedes the primary color and is normally described with an "ish" at the end (such as purplish pink). The latter indicates that the dominant color of the diamond is pink with some traces of purple throughout the stone.
If the diamond does not show any traces of the secondary color, the hue of the diamond is said to be a pure primary color.
If both primary and secondary color are practically even all over the diamond, the color grade will be expressed as two nouns (such as purple pink).
Colored fancy diamonds have become a fashion trend - due to celebrities who possesses these rare commodities. As a result, these stones have become very expensive.
Lots of people cannot afford to buy natural colored diamonds so they opt to purchase synthetic diamonds instead. These are lab created diamonds and are far less expensive than their natural counterparts. They should always be declared as synthetics diamonds and not as natural diamonds.
Another option available is color enhanced diamonds. These color enhanced diamonds are an alternative to the more costly natural ones. They are also less expensive and are genuine natural diamonds with artificial hue (color).
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