Everyone who knows of fancy color diamonds will agree that they are absolutely exquisite. When an image of say, a Fancy Vivid Blue is promoted on any of the most prominent social media platforms, the amount of shares and likes are phenomenal, and often more impressive than that of a white stone. Only, there are still many who are not even aware of their existence or fully understand how readily available colored diamonds are.

Furthermore, even those that have heard and even seen some of the rarest colored stones assume that they are far too rich for their budget.

Well, LEIBISH wants to be of the first to come out and tell them that they are mistaken!

Some color diamond are expensive, such as the one mentioned above. However, many others are affordable and some are surprisingly even less expensive than their colorless counterparts! The world of color is vast and the options available are almost endless. Consider the fact that color diamonds can be found in almost any size, they have different clarity grades, different shapes, different cuts, different color combinations, and multiple intensity grades. Each and every diamond characteristic directly affects the overall value of the stone. Hence, there are many strikingly beautiful stones that can be purchased for extremely competitive prices.

Fancy Colors

Depending on certain diamond characteristics, some of these stones come at an extremely high cost and are considered very luxurious pieces. Though, as a result of the many options such as color combinations, overtones, size, and more - the ability to price an affordable stone is there.

Breaking Down the Cost of Color Diamonds

As previously mentioned, each diamond characteristic will affect the value of the stone. However, especially with color diamonds, there are certain attributes that weigh in a lot more than the others.

The diamond color is by far the most important aspect of these stones. All 100% natural fancy color diamonds are already known as extremely rare natural resources. Therefore the more difficult it is to find the color or color combination, the higher the value of the stone will be.

The fact that comparing prices of fancy color diamonds is near-impossible is true. Two color diamonds with identical GIA reports can vary enormously in price, and the reality is that it is all in how good the diamond appears. Still, just so you understand the ballpark figures of color dimaonds, listed below is the approximate market value for high quality (VS+ clarity and a VG/VG+ make) 0.20 carat and 1.00 carat stones. Each color is listed at different intensity levels as well.

(Still, it is important to keep in mind that depending on many characteristics the prices can change quite drastically.)

YELLOW 2012

Weight	Fancy Yellow	Fancy Intense Yellow	Fancy Vivid Yellow
0.20ct	2,200 per carat	3,200 per carat	4,500 per carat
1.00ct	5,500 per carat	7,500 per carat	13,000 per carat

1.05 Carat, Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond, Emerald, IF

1.16 Carat, Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond, Radiant, VS1

PINK - (NOT ARGYLE) - 2012

Weight	Fancy Pink	Fancy Intense Pink	Fancy Vivid Pink
0.20ct	12,000 per carat	20,000 per carat	60,000 per carat
1.00ct	90,000 per carat	180,000 per carat	400,000 per carat

UPDATED PRICING 2015

Weight	Fancy Pink	Fancy Intense Pink	Fancy Vivid Pink
0.20ct	14,000 per carat	24,000 per carat	75,000 per carat
1.00ct	110,000 per carat	210,000 per carat	460,000 per carat

0.68 carat, Fancy Pink Diamond

Prosperity Diamond Ring

0.50 carat, Fancy Pink Diamond

BLUE - 2012

Weight	Fancy Blue	Fancy Intense Blue	Fancy Vivid Blue
0.20ct	40,000 per carat	75,000 per carat	150,000 per carat
1.00ct	180,000 per carat	300,000 per carat	500,000 per carat

UPDATED PRICING 2015

Weight	Fancy Blue	Fancy Intense Blue	Fancy Vivid Blue
0.20ct	45,000 per carat	90,000 per carat	170,000 per carat
1.00ct	200,000 per carat	400,000 per carat	850,000 per carat

0.15 carat, Fancy Deep Blue Diamond

0.12 Carat, Fancy Deep Blue, Emerald, SI2

0.57 Carat, Fancy Gray Blue Diamond, Marquise, SI1

RED - only found in one intensity, 'Fancy'

Weight	Fancy Red	-	-
0.20ct	300,000 per carat	-	-
1.00ct	1,300,000 per carat	-	-

0.21 carat Fancy Red Diamond

0.52 carat Fancy Red Diamond Ring

0.43 Carat, Fancy Red Diamond

GREEN

Weight	Fancy Green	Fancy Intense Green	Fancy Vivid Green
0.20ct	15,000 per carat	60,000 per carat	200,000 per carat
1.00ct	50,000 per carat	180,000 per carat	500,000 per carat

0.14 Carat, Fancy Intense Green Diamond, Radiant

1.00 Carat, Fancy Deep Gray Yellowish Green, Pear, SI1

0.19 Carat, Fancy Deep Bluish Green Diamond, Princess, VS2

CHAMPAGNE - there is no 'Fancy Intense' or 'Fancy Vivid'

Weight	Fancy Brown	-	-
0.20ct	1,000 per carat	-	-
1.00ct	3,000 per carat	-	-

3.02 Carat, Fancy Light Brown Diamond, Round, VS2

2.07 Carat, Fancy Yellowish Brown three stone diamond ring, Round, VS2

0.37 Carat, Very Light Brown Diamond, Marquise, VS2

BLACK - only found in one intensity, 'Fancy Black' - and smaller stones are not often cut

Weight	Fancy	-	-
-	-	-	-
1.00ct	2,000 per carat	-	-

2.01 Carat, Fancy Black Diamond, Heart

1.59 Carat, Round, Black Diamond Ring

2.04 Carat, Fancy Black Diamond, Oval

Price Points to Consider

The price is affected by a number of different diamond characteristics that all translate to the appearance of the stone. Though everything essentially affects the price, following are the most dominant points to consider.

Overtone Colors

A straight pure color will always hold a higher value than a stone with a secondary hue other than one specific color combination. Specifically with pink diamonds, a Purplish Pink Diamond is valued just as high as a straight Pink. Although, the color diamond family presents so many differences of appearance due to the many characteristics, such as the different color combinations. See for example the image below which contains all the green color diamonds from the World of Color.

green-diamond-scale

Color Intensity

Fancy color diamonds are found with nine different intensity grades, and the higher the color intensity the more expensive the stone. Not every color possesses each of the 9 intensity grades. For example, a Champagne or Yellow diamond only start from Fancy Light and a Red diamond is only found in one intensity grade, a Fancy Red. Stones with a higher intensity are always priced higher than those with a lower grade.

Pink Diamond Color Scale

Diamond Weight

Needless to say, the heavier the stone, the more it will go for. Natural color diamonds are not regularly found, and when they are the rough isn’t usually so large. From the rough, the cutter will try to retain as much stone as possible while keeping it a nice shape at a good quality.

Two Blue Diamond Heart shapes

Diamond Clarity

Especially with color diamonds, the clarity is not considered nearly as valuable as the color. None the less, it is one of the 4Cs, the main attributes by which the quality of the stone is defined. So even though the higher the clarity the more expensive the stone, it is quite regular to find a high value color diamond with a lower clarity grade.

Magnified Inclusion Diamond (w/ out magnification) Magnified Inclusion with magnification

Which Color is Better?

The beauty of a color diamond is that there is no one color that is better than the others! People are different from one another, and colors talk to people in different ways. Choose the color that fits you best and play around with the wide range of options. It is up to you to adjust the diamond price to your budget.

Fancy Colored Diamonds