Thursday, March 18, 2010

Let's Get Fancy: Fancy Yellow That Is

Canary Diamonds are considered one of the most rare, beautiful diamonds. While the GIA diamond scale ranges from D-Z, further down the scale a diamond will reach the color area of fancy yellow or Canary diamond.


The color of a diamond is composed from the combination of hue, tone, and saturation. Hue is the basic shade that identifies the color. The tone is the amount of lightness or darkness, while the saturation is the intensity of the color.


While the GIA recognizes 27 hues for fancy-colored diamonds, each hue represents a range. To classify each range, each hue is accompanied with specific grades. These grade levels are extremely important for colored diamonds because they determine the value. If a diamond has a stronger hue, it becomes more valuable.


How do yellow diamonds get their color?

Diamonds are conceived of 99.95% of carbon, while the other 0.05% consists of traces of other elements. For fancy yellow diamonds, traces of Nitrogen give them their natural yellow color. The more Nitrogen that exists in the atomic structure, the strength of color will increase. In other words, the more Nitrogen, the stronger yellow a diamond will be.


What is makes a yellow diamond considered Canary?

A diamond is considered a natural Canary when its hue is a pure yellow in color. This diamond group is divided into categories: Fancy Light Yellow, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow, and Fancy Vivid Yellow. These classifications can affect price dramatically. While a 1.00 carat fancy light yellow can cost from $4,000-$6000, a 1.00carat fancy vivid yellow diamond can cost from $20,000-$30,000. As you can tell, color is critical in determining rarity and overall value.


How does fluorescence affect a fancy yellow diamond?

Fluorescence in white diamonds is typically viewed negatively; however, in colored diamonds, especially yellow, it can increase the intensity, which adds value to the diamond. While many people think that fluorescence only comes in blue, it can also come in colors such as green,

white, orange, and yellow.


How does the clarity of a yellow diamond compare to other types of diamonds?

While there are many different types of colored diamonds, with fancy yellow diamonds, you have a much better chance of finding a clean stone. According to the GIA, in 2003, 80% if yellow diamonds graded were a VS clarity or better.


What shapes are most popular for yellow diamonds?

While round brilliant cuts are popular for white diamonds, this type of cut reduces the appearance of color due to the amount of light that reflects through the stone. Therefore, it is more popular for yellow diamonds to be cut in squarish shapes such as radiant or princess. It is also common for yellow diamonds to be oval cut.


Tips for Mounting

To enhance the color, several techniques are often used when setting yellow diamonds. One technique is to contrast the yellow diamonds by setting other colored diamonds around or beside it. Sometimes, a bezel style is better than a prong style depending on the diamond. Additionally, setters will use higher karat prongs to amplify to color of the lighter yellows. Lastly, if a ring is white gold or platinum, a yellow gold basket is used to to reflect a more intense yellow color. The diamond itself will often determine which type of setting is best. To see some of the setting styles we offer visit http://www.instylediamonds.com/rt/settings.pl?cat=6&cfg=adi.


Celebrity Yellow Diamonds

Singer Seal gave international supermodel Heidi Klum a 10 carat oval cut light, fancy yellow diamond. This beautiful stone was prong set tightly surrounded by yellow canary pave set diamonds on a 2.5mm band. The singer, Usher is also a big fan of yellow diamonds. He currently owns a watch with 1,000 tiny yellow diamonds that create his face. Legend Elton John also wears a 25 carat yellow diamond ring.


To see some of our yellow diamond inventory visit http://www.instylediamonds.com/rt/sformf.pl?cfg=adi.

No comments:

Post a Comment