Are Yellow Diamonds Valuable?

Natural yellow diamonds are fairly common amongst fancy colored diamonds, though significantly more rare than white diamonds. It is a common false impression that anatural yellow diamond is less valuable than a clear diamonds. Even though very light or slightly yellow diamonds are thought to be fairly common and not of high value, yellow diamonds such as intense and vivid are really quite valuable.



The pure yellow stones are worth much more than yellow diamonds with secondary brown hues, however, if the diamond happens to have secondary colors of green-yellow or orange yellow, this might increase the value of the stone quite considerably. This is because these diamonds are much rarer than yellow diamonds.



Fancy color yellow diamonds are graded by their strength and intensity of color. The highest-quality grade is the Vivid Yellow, closely followed by the Intense Yellow diamond. The lowest quality of natural yellow diamond is the Light Yellow diamond, followed by the Fancy Yellow. A number of tones of Vivid Yellow diamonds and the rarer Intense Yellow diamonds are called Canary Diamonds. Canary diamonds are the most rare among yellow diamonds and for that reason they are the most expensive and are desirable both by investors and sophisticated customers. The canary diamond has a very specific tone of yellow, and even if you have never seen a Canary Yellow before, if you were to see one, you will realize that it is a Canary Diamond.



Yellow diamonds look fantastic when they are mixed with white diamonds and usually yellow diamonds are set in yellow gold. A 3-stone ring should include white stones and the yellow diamond should be placed in the middle. White stones in trapeze, oval or triangle shapes will make a beautiful setting.



Just as with other fancy color diamonds the coloration remains the main thing that affects how much the diamond is worth, then comes size and of course clarity. Clarity is also crucial in the evaluation of fancy yellow diamonds, though this is much less than in white diamonds.



The ideal cut for fancy colored diamonds is the Radiant cut. This is the perfect shape so that it is possible to maximize the color. Yellow diamonds can be also in the Cushion cut, Oval cut, and Pear and Heart shapes. The rarest are the Emerald, Square Emerald and the Brilliant cuts (round shape). The price of these shapes are substantially higher for all fancy diamonds and not merely for yellow diamonds.



The cut quality of a colored diamond is very different to the traditional white diamond. The objective when cutting a color diamond should be to maximize the depth and saturation of the diamond's color while, at the same time, striking a balance between the carat weight and brilliance. It is crucial that the stone is sold with a grading report from a reliable diamond lab such as GIA, HRD, IGI or EGL. The report should declare that the color is "Natural". The report must also describe the intensity of color, plus the color distribution throughout the diamond.



The Octahedron is the largest naturally formed octahedral diamond in the world at 616 carats and is a Canary Diamond. This diamond was found in 1964 in the Dutoitspan mine, situated in the Kimberley region of South Africa. The Kimberley Octahedron stays uncut, which means that the color and distribution grades cannot be applied to this diamond. The owners of the mine, Da Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., chose to maintain the diamond in the state that it was mined. This diamond can be seen at the visitor’s center at the Kimberely Big Hole mine.