YELLOW DIAMONDS
SUNFLOWER, CANARY, LEMON
A 10 carat natural vivid yellow diamond set in a platinum and 18kt ring designed by Scott West
Natural yellow diamonds
The canary, lemon and sunshine tones are some of the most beautiful colors in the color diamond spectrum. Natural yellows diamonds are the most popular colors for collectors, designers and jewelry enthusiasts. These rare diamonds have been sought after from royalty, featured in movies and ancient stories.
According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Yellow diamonds, when outside the range D to Z (colorless to light-yellow which is how colorless diamonds are graded), are considered a color diamond, classified as "Fancy." A level of Fancy would mean a more vivid yellow diamond than the genius Z. The GIA applies one in six color categories to yellow diamonds: *fancy-light, fancy-dark, fancy-deep, fancy-intense and fancy-vivid. (*left = lowest value / to right = highest value)
Cause of Color
The cause of color is nitrogen. The strength of the yellow diamonds color also depends on different quantities of nitrogen. The more nitrogen, the stronger the intensity of the color. The intensity of the colors often lends itself to common names such as lemon, sunflower or even canary.
Natural Yellow Diamonds are the most popular colors for collectors, designers, and jewelry enthusiasts. These rare diamonds have been sought after by royalty, featured in movies and ancient stories. According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Yellow diamonds, when outside the range D to Z (colorless to light-yellow which is how colorless diamonds are graded), are considered a color diamond, classified as “Fancy.” A level of Fancy would mean a more vivid yellow diamond than the genius Z. The GIA applies one in six color categories to yellow diamonds: *fancy-light, fancy-dark, fancy-deep, fancy-intense, and fancy-vivid.
Origin of Yellow Diamonds
Yellows diamonds are found almost all around the world with history dating back to South Africa in the late 1860s, such as Africa, Russia, Australia, South America, North America, India and many more. They were so rare, in fact, that the well-known jewelry merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) considered to have found the Hope diamond, felt they were remarkable enough to include seeing a 137.27 carat, yellow diamond he named in many ways "Florentine," "Austrian Yellow" and the "Great Duke of Tuscany." In 2018, a massive 552-carat Yellow Diamond was discovered in Canada’s Diavik Mine; it is the largest ever found in North America.
Historic Yellow Diamonds
A close up look at a natural yellow diamond. This color shade is almost lemon
A natural yellow diamond compared to a colorless diamond.
