What are the colors of diamonds?

“The best friends of girls are diamonds”, I must admit that any woman will gladly accept a gift from these precious stones. Their beauty and splendor fascinate, and often we can not distinguish a real diamond from a fake. Most of us imagine and know a diamond as a transparent gem, but in fact it can be of different colors and shades. You can find colored diamonds with very rare shades, such as green, yellow, orange, purple, red, blue, pink and even black.

Before you talk about the features of diamond and its various shades, you need to define the concepts of "diamond" and "diamond." The word “diamond” (adamas) is of Greek origin and, translated into Russian, means “unsurpassed”. A diamond is a natural mineral that is 99 percent carbon, and one percent may include other elements. This is the most durable mineral, in addition, one of the most expensive gemstones.

Diamonds on earth have existed for millions of years. According to one version, they were formed from a silicate melt of a cooled earth mantle. They were thrown to the surface by explosive processes inside the earth's crust. These stones can be found both among mountains and at the bottom of rivers and seas.

A diamond is a polished, washed and faceted diamond. According to the established rules, not all diamonds can be diamonds, but only those in which fifty-seven facets are formed after cutting. The weight of diamonds, like all gemstones, is determined in carats, 1 carat is 200 milligrams.

The value of this stone was first appreciated in the 16th century, when its chemical and physical properties were studied. Then its strength and durability were revealed. Today, scientists have learned to create an artificial diamond, which in its strength is equal to natural. The resulting stone was called a hype diamond, but it does not have the same value as the original mineral.

There are many criteria for determining the value of precious stones.. One of them is color. Before talking about the color of the stone, let us explain how it is formed and what it depends on.

Only a specialist can discern the natural color of a diamond, it is extremely difficult for an ordinary person to understand and see the true shade of a stone. Minerals can be multi-colored: from light yellow to the darkest black. Such colored stones are called fantasy. Due to the absence of an insignificant number of carbon atoms or, conversely, the presence of atoms of boron, hydrogen, chromium and other elements that are not typical for a stone, the mineral may be colored. Today, for a million colorless diamonds, you can find in total no more than a hundred colored ones.

Diamonds can be conditionally divided into three categories:

• basic (yellow and brown);
• rare (blue, black, red, green, etc.);
• transparent (white).

There are several modern technologies that can make color more vibrant and recognizable. To give the color a pronounced tone, the stone must be properly processed and have a good cut. When selling a stone, the fact of staining must be indicated among its characteristics:

• use of special coating;
• staining stones artificially;
• irradiation with electrons or neutrons.

Colored diamonds come in two types: those containing nitrogen, more precisely, its atoms, and those containing no nitrogen atoms.

Basically, all diamonds in their composition have up to three nitrogen molecules, due to which the color is acquired, mainly light yellow stones.

They are also called pure water diamonds, in their structure there is no nitrogen at all. These are quite rare: only 2 percent of the total production. But there are rarer diamonds, which contain atoms of boron and other chemical elements. Then their color changes and can be almost any color.

Diamond, unlike other stones, for a long time practically does not change its natural color. It does not give in to changes even with cooling, heating and solar radiation. The main colors are yellow and brown, they are much more common in nature, so their cost is the lowest.

• Brown diamonds contain iron molecules. The stones can be from light brown, almost orange, to dark, saturated brown. Jewelry with them looks very original, but do not have a high cost among colored jewelry.

• Yellow diamonds contain lithium. It should be noted here that we are talking about a white diamond with a yellow tint. It is difficult for an ordinary person to distinguish such a diamond from a truly yellow, more expensive one. A stone with a shade of yellow is slightly more expensive than brown, but it still belongs to the category of inexpensive diamonds.

Natural multi-colored stones are almost impossible to find on open sale. Mostly in jewelry use artificial colored diamonds or natural white stones, painted artificially.

Very rare and one of the most expensive among colored stones. Initially, the presence of aluminum in its composition gives the diamond a blue color.

They include boron, their price is much higher than blue. Natural blue stones can be found at most once a year of mining. Their reserves make up 1/10 percent of all colored diamonds.

They are considered a variety of brown diamonds, but they are much more expensive and belong to more expensive colored stones. If brown shades are found in the color, then the cost of the mineral is reduced. The composition contains manganese, which gives the stones a rich pink color.

A mineral with this color is obtained due to the presence of hydrogen in its composition. In nature, there is practically no stone with a pure purple color. As a rule, in this color there are shades of pink, red or brown, a combination of several colors at the same time can be found in the stone of lilac color.

Like all colored diamonds, it is rare in nature. If you come across a product with a green diamond on sale, then most likely the color was obtained artificially.

The composition of the natural green stone includes chrome, and a green tint can also be obtained under the influence of radioactive rays on it. Color may be uneven and combine several shades. Such stones are usually purchased for exhibitions or by wealthy people as financial investments.

We can say that this is the most unknown, rare and expensive. Until now, scientists can not figure out why such a diamond is formed. The presence of manganese in it can give a maximum pink shades. And like all the mysterious, the origin of this mineral is shrouded in legends, according to one of which human blood is included in its composition.

This is the most controversial stone, until recently it was not considered as an expensive colored diamond. It contains graphite, which makes it so dark that the sun's rays do not pass through it and are not refracted. There is no way to review and evaluate its defects and cleanliness.

Jewelry with these minerals looks very mysterious and mysterious. Maybe that's why today demand, like the price of these stones, is gradually starting to increase.

Minerals of this breed can be either completely colorless or white with a yellowish or brown tint. The more transparent it is, the higher its value.

It is extremely rare to find perfectly transparent stone in nature. The bulk of diamonds is white with a yellow tint, so their cost is much lower than color. However, among the white stones, the largest are found. Their mass can reach 180 carats.

If you do not have a special education or you are an unprofessional jeweler, it will be difficult for you to distinguish one shade from another, unless, of course, the color of the stone is not pronounced. This is primarily due to the fact that diamonds have more than fifty faces, and sunlight falling on them is refracted by all the colors of the rainbow.

Interesting information about the largest and most beautiful diamonds can be found in the next wdeo.