Tag Archives: Colored Diamonds

20 Nov

Green Diamonds | Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers

Gemologists rank green diamonds as among the most rare of the naturally colored diamonds. These marvelously beautiful and unique diamonds have been exposed to cosmic radiation over its million year formation. Other colored diamonds tend to have an additional element such as hydrogen as an inclusion. Please note, holding a green diamond will not make your finger fall off as the radioactive half-life has long since passed by the time it has been found. Diamonds with the natural colors of green, blue or red account for less that 0.07% of all diamonds examined by the GIA.

Green Diamond Formation

As we mentioned before, green diamonds form due to radioactive materials being present during its formation. Moreover, these materials could be uranium or thorium. Geologist have concluded that radiation penetrates the diamond crystal and can knock electrons or carbon atoms out of the specific crystal lattice. This often appears as a shallow “green” skin on the outside of the diamond, but uniform green throughout the diamond can exist although it is much rarer.

Furthermore, because electrons and carbon atoms are displaced in the crystal lattice, the way light enters and is refracted is affected. Hence the green portion of the visible color spectrum is reflected while the rest are absorbed and gives the diamond that appearance.

Additionally, diamonds can also have structural defects due to the presence of nitrogen, hydrogen or nickel atoms that may give the diamond its green appearance. However, natural irradiation is much more common.

green diamonds colors

Fancy Color Scale:  

As for all natural colored diamonds, they follow a similar color grading scale: faint green, very light green, light green, fancy light green, fancy green and fancy intense, vivid and deep. For green diamonds, the more intense, vivid or deep the natural color is, the more expensive the stone is.

Diamond cutting:

As we mentioned before, often times green diamond color is very shallow, so this presents diamond cutters with a problem. How to maximize the natural green color in an exceptionally rare diamond.

Famous Green Diamonds

In fact, Christie’s Auction sold the Aurora Green diamond in 2016 for $16.2 million. The sale made it the most expensive green diamond as well as the largest Fancy Vivid Natural Green Diamond.

At Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers, we pride ourselves on being South Eastern Wisconsin’s go-to jewelry store for all natural diamond jewelry. Stop by our beautiful Whitefish Bay location just north of Milwaukee to see our beautiful selection of diamond necklaces, rings, and bracelets! Additionally, Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers also carries GIA certified diamond engagement rings.

05 Jun

Yellow Diamonds – Colored Diamonds

Yellow Diamonds

Enter into the exciting and highly exclusive world of fancy colored diamonds, where the traditional notions of diamonds being colorless shatters that concept.  The first color diamond Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers will explore with you, is the yellow diamond; also known as the canary diamond.

Yellow Diamonds – A Canary Delight!

In the Superman comics, the hero crushes a lump of coal (carbon-based material) so hard that it produces enough heat and pressure to form a diamond for Lois Lane. While coal, under immense heat and pressure does not create diamonds, although they possess similar atomic makeups. However, when nitrogen enters the rigid structure of the composition of diamonds, they absorb blue light and give off a yellow shade in the visible light spectrum. The amount of nitrogen present in a yellow diamond will affect how light or dark the color is. Moreover, this logic of wanting more nitrogen, an impurity, naturally present in a yellow diamond is the opposite of a flawless white diamond. Additionally, gemologist give recognition to fancy color yellow diamonds a secondary hue such as orange or brown.

Yellow Diamond Engagement Ring from Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers
Yellow Diamond Engagement Ring from Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers

The GIA grades yellow diamonds slightly different than traditional white diamonds. Diamonds Pro sums it up nicely, “if the white diamond color scale [D – Z], were to continue past Z – all the way to a rich, yellow color – you’d have a Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond”. Essentially this means that the best quality yellow diamond will be fully saturated with yellow and have no traces of whiteness.

Colored Diamond Scale:

Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid/ Deep/Dark

Gemologists estimate that one out of about every 10,000 carats of diamonds are a natural colored diamond. Furthermore, 60% of those natural colored diamonds are yellow. So, while they are common among natural colored diamonds, they are still exceptionally rare among the grand scheme of things.

Yellow Diamonds - Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers Engagement Ring in 18k white gold with diamond halo

At Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers, we are fortunate enough to have a gorgeous example of one set in a beautiful engagement ring. This 1.39 cushion cut, fancy yellow diamond is set with 0.56 carats of round diamonds on the halo and down the shanks in 18kt white gold! We would love to see you propose with this stunning diamond engagement ring! Additionally, stop by Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers to peruse our exceptional collection of diamond engagement rings in Milwaukee and Whitefish Bay.