Fancy Color Diamonds

In 1866, a 15 years old young shepherd boy by the name of Erasmus Jacobs found in the Orange River near his hometown in South Africa, a tiny, shiny, and unique stone. It was the first fancy color diamond ever to be found. He gave it to his neighbor, Schalk Van Niekerk, a collector of unusual stones, to exhibit to the world.  And Van Niekerk called it the "Eureka Diamond," 21.25 carat fancy, brownish, yellow diamond.    

In May 2016, more than 150 years after Van Niekerk presented the first fancy color diamond, two unpublished purchasers bought the "Oppenheimer Bblue" 14.62-carat fancy vivid blue diamond for 57.5 million dollars, making it the most expensive diamond ever to sold at an auction. During those 150 years, many other famous fancy color diamonds have been sold to famous people and royal families all over the world. 

Fancy color diamonds are extremely rare. They represent only 1% of all diamonds. They exhibit color beyond the Z range, while at the same time showing other colors face – up. These unique diamonds come in any color imaginable: yellow, grey, brown with rare green included, blue, red, and pink. Many fancy color diamonds exhibit a variety of combinations of colors and shades, which is specified in the gemological certificate. We scale this color to 5 levels. Starting with faint color, fancy light color, fancy color, fancy intense and highest, and the fancy vivid—the most expensive and unique one. These 5 grade levels differ significantly. For example, 1 carat faint blue can cost $10,000, and 1-carat fancy vivid blue or pink is bound to go for more than a million dollars.

 Since these prices are way too high for commercial distribution,  jewelers have found a way to bypass them by painting natural diamonds in fancy colors. It's done in a very high-temperature environment, and special techniques are employed to simulate the diamond's natural creation. This is why in the last few years we've been seeing more natural diamonds in colors like pink, blue, green, red, black, and yellow. Be aware though that some of these are fake, or not natural - so you should always check the certification. That being said, the real ones are beautiful, and the color stays on the diamond for many years, plus the price of the diamond is affordable.

If you like fancy color diamonds, you can find a few in our designs. We often use real natural colored diamonds to add that extra sparkle, and make the jewelry unique and colorful.  If you want to invest in a natural real fancy color diamond, we can custom it especially for you, to make your dream come true.