4Cs of Naturally Coloured Diamonds

In one of our guide articles, we discussed naturally coloured diamonds that are rarely found in nature. Although the article mentions that the 4Cs of diamonds do not influence the coloured stones much, they’re still essential aspects of these precious stones that you must be aware of. In this guide, we’ll explore the grading scale, shape, clarity, and cut of fancy coloured diamonds to help you arrive at an informed decision while buying these stone jewellery.

As we talk about the natural diamonds stones of shades, the major topic would always be their colour. Being a dominant factor to determine the precious stone’s value, the colour would highly influence the way you consider and buy the jewellery. However, as colour is already the talking point in the town, why not move on to the remaining Cs of diamonds that also impact its value in the market, and in the eyes of the buyer.

But do not worry; if you’ve got any question regarding the hue of these diamonds, we’ve another guide page dedicated solely to that. You can go through that article and learn everything there is to learn about fancy coloured diamonds as a buyer.

By now, we all know that diamonds are formed deep within the Earth’s surface under extreme heat and pressure. Such an environment often leads to these stones developing certain birthmarks, either external (blemishes) or internal (inclusions). Clarity grading goes from LC or IF to I3 (included). The higher graded on the clarity scale, the more precious and special, and the higher the price. You can go through this guide article to get a detailed understanding of the clarity grading. 

However, due to the nature of fancy coloured diamonds, clarity is given less important compared to its colourless counterparts. As the inclusions usually get masked behind the diamond’s coloured intensity, clarity, along with cut and carat takes a back seat.

A diamond’s shape or cut determines the intensity of its brilliance and sparkle. While colourless stones are cut to enhance their reflective power, fancy coloured stones are cut in order to increase their natural colour intensity. Several naturally coloured diamonds are cut into non-common shapes to boost their natural hue. Moreover, due to the rarity of coloured diamonds that are found in nature, not all shades are available in all shapes. 

Similar to how carat weight of a colourless diamond only impacts its market value, the carat weight of fancy coloured diamonds only influences its price in the market; it does not offer anything related to the stone’s shade/colour. Naturally, as the weight of the diamond increases, its price exponentially sees a surge because the stone becomes rarer and rarer. For your information, only one in a million naturally mined diamonds stones are large enough to be cut and polished into 1-carat diamond. In case of naturally found coloured diamond stones as well, price rises exponentially with the carat weight.

Similar to how colourless or slightly coloured diamonds are graded on a scale ranging from D to Z, fancy coloured diamonds are also classified based on the intensity of their hue. Below given parameters are used to grade diamonds that are recognized as naturally coloured:

While all the diamond stones that achieve the above-mentioned grades are stunning, only the ones earning the grades of Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid are the most valuable in terms of price and rarity. Additionally, all of these diamonds have a scarce colour, making them a good investment.

And although the difference of the hue and grade might not be apparent to an amateur buyer, highly trained and skilled experts can determine the coloured diamond grade just by looking them. However, it is recommended that a gemologist grade the naturally coloured diamonds with precise care as even the slightest fluctuation results in an enormous difference in its value.