Yellow Diamonds

Everyone knows that a natural fancy colour diamond is extremely rare, but do you know how rare it is?

For diamond mining, over 250 tons of rock needs to be blasted, crushed, processed and x-rayed to yield just a 1-carat diamond. More than 120 million carats are mined every year and less than a quarter of them will end up in jewellery based on their gem quality. Out of that amount, only one in a few hundreds of thousands possesses enough colours to be classified as a “natural fancy colour diamond”.

Yellow Diamonds

The positioning of fancy yellows is unique — they are the most popular natural fancy colour diamonds while relatively speaking of course, they are the most common ones, It is estimated that around 60% of all natural coloured diamonds belong to the fancy yellow category. As a “common” colour diamond and a “rare” gem, many customers regard yellow diamonds as their favourite stones. Let’s explore into these irresistible diamonds.

Cause of Colour

The presence of nitrogen causes yellow colour in diamonds. Molecules of the gas are absorbed while the diamond crystal forms, being trapped in the spaces between the carbon atoms. These molecules themselves absorb certain wavelengths of the white light (Daylight) as it travel through the diamond crystal and effectively converts the diamond into a colour filter allowing us to see only the yellow colour. As in all cases if coloured gemstones are viewed in artificial light their colour will alter according to the wavelengths present in the artificial light source ie-fluorescent light, ordinary light bulbs or these new low energy bulbs will all illuminate the diamond to show a different shade of yellow.

Secondary Colours

Common secondary colours in yellow diamonds include greenish yellow, brownish yellow, and orangish yellow, and sometimes these modifying colours are present in combination.

Rarity

Yellow diamonds are the second most common fancy colour. They are second to browns in terms of rarity, but they are the most popular in the marketplace

Light Yellow through Fancy Yellow to the intense Fancy Vivid Yellow

Grading
Yellow diamonds that show less colour than “Z,” but more colour than D-J graded diamonds are called Faint through Light Yellow: K-M Faint Yellow, N-R Very Light Yellow, and S-Z Light Yellow.

Yellow diamonds are deemed “fancy” when a stone displays more colour than the “Z” colour grade within the D-Z colour grading scale. Fancy yellow diamonds are graded using the terms; Fancy Light Yellow, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow, Fancy Dark Yellow, Fancy Deep Yellow, and Fancy Vivid Yellow.

 

I. Formation
A diamond’s yellow colour is the result of nitrogen molecules absorbing blue light, making the diamond appear yellow, yellow being the complement of the colour blue. The higher concentration of the gas present in the formation period of the gemstone, the more saturated the yellow colouring. The stronger the colour of a fancy colour diamond is, the more valuable it is.

II. Major Origins

South Africa and Australia are renowned for producing natural fancy colour diamonds. South Africa has seen the most notable production of large and intense yellow diamonds.

III. Popularity
Natural fancy yellows are popular diamonds that are frequently worn by celebrities and featured in magazines. Hollywood actress Ate Blanchett wore a pair of earrings, each with a 3-carat yellow diamond, in Oscars 2011.She also wore a magnificent Tiffany yellow diamond necklace. These extravagant items captured the media’s attention easily. A pair of earrings studded with natural fancy colour diamonds is always precious, because it is not easy to find a matching set due to the rarity of these stones. Celebrities such as Penelope Cruz, Mary Hart and Kathy Griffin are also in love with these exquisite stones and have shown up at various events with stunning yellow diamond jewellery.

0.70ct Fancy Yellow GIA Si1 – 1ct shield shoulders

Famous jewellery with yellows

When it comes to jewellery with natural fancy yellow diamonds, jewel fans may probably think of the Tiffany Diamond ― one of the largest fancy yellow diamonds ever discovered. As a rough it weighed 287.42 carats and it was cut into a cushion-shaped 128.54-carat stone. This diamond is known to have been worn by only two women a of now: Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball held in Newport, Rhode Island, mounted for the occasion in a necklace of white diamonds; and it was subsequently worn by Audrey Hepburn in publicity photos for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

In the last few years, collections from retailers like Tiffany & Co. have popularised the hue, and large yellow diamonds have made headlines for prices harnered at auction. “The Vivid Yellow,” a 32.77 carat fancy yellow diamond, fetched $6.6 million at Christie’s in October 2011. A month later, the 110.03 carat “Sun Drop” sold for a record $12.3 million, the highest price paid for a yellow diamond at auction.

V. Nickname for Yellow Diamonds

Sometimes you may see “Canary diamonds” on jewellery-related articles and you may wonder what they are. Actually, canary diamonds are not little-yellow-bird-shaped gemstones. For diamond collectors, the term “Canary diamonds” usually refers to fancy vivid or intense yellow diamonds.