Throughout history, diamonds, known for their exceptional beauty and radiance have been one of the most sought after gemstones in the world.

Formed in the earth’s mantle layer, diamonds are the hardest substance known. The oldest diamonds were made 3.3 billion years ago when the earth was young. The first ever recorded diamond was found in India 3000 years ago. However, diamonds gained popularity in the Middle Ages because owners recognized their power, worth and ability to reflect light.

The popularity of colored diamonds is a relatively recent phenomenon. Yet there is a rich lore of colored diamonds embedded into the overall history of precious gemstones.

The color of “fancy” diamonds comes from the mineral elements present in the rock, such as chromium, magnesium, cobalt, titanium, iron, vanadium, nickel and copper. The pink color of some diamonds, as well as the rare green, often get their color not from trace elements, as with the other colored diamonds, but from radiation and temperatures acting during the diamond’s formation. One of the most famous diamonds, the dark grayish-blue, 45.52 carat Hope Diamond, is also one of the most sought after, and costly, of all diamonds. colored diamond grading is made under a rigid, prescribed set of conditions by a trained gemologist. The GIA Colored Grading Scale rates the diamond’s color on three primary characteristics: Hue, Tone and Saturation. Hue refers to the primary and notable Colors that are present in the diamond, such as Yellow, Pink, Blue. Tone refers to the lightness or darkness of the hue, or primary color of the diamond. Saturation is the measure of how strong and intense the primary color of the diamond actually is, such as light, deep, intense or vivid.

In recent years natural colored diamonds have gone from being interesting oddities and curio pieces to being immensely sought after and greatly desired gems in their own right. Many of the world’s most famous diamonds (such as the South African mined 128.54 carat, canary-yellow Tiffany diamond, brought out in 1877) have been natural colored diamonds. This mixture of history and celebrity has only increased the current desire for colored diamonds.

Diamond mining has occurred worldwide for thousands of years. Mines can be found in four continents – Africa, Asia, North America and Oceania. Each location produces unique stones that contain specific colors and characteristics.