When we think of colour GREEN, the most common green gemstone that comes to our mind is Emerald! isn’t it? Well, well! Ladies and gentleman in my new article, I will be talking about Natural Green Diamonds, which are a second rarest variety of Fancy Color diamonds and amongst the top six most popular gemstones; only 1 Green Diamond is found out of 10,000 diamonds. So, come aboard with me as we travel to Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana in South America and to Africa, where Natural Green Diamonds have originated. How excited are you?
Blueish Green macle from Awakening Lotus necklace.
Let learn about Green Diamonds Vs Emeralds.
• Green diamonds rank 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness and Emeralds rank 7.
• The translucent green of the naturally tinted green diamonds makes them more sparkly than emeralds.
• There are various colour intensity levels and colour combinations for Green Diamonds, resulting in different shades.
Transformation of Green Diamond by De Beers Group. Video credit: De Beers Group.
COLOR is certainly the most important distinguishing factor of Natural Color Diamonds. Let’s understand how do Green diamonds get their colour.
• The Green colour appears naturally in diamonds when they are exposed to underground radiation during its formation, however, this process being very rare, it is extremely difficult to discover Natural Green diamond in the mines.
• Only the portions of the diamond that comes into direct contact of radiation will illustrate a green hue, resulting in different shading and uneven colouration. A Green Diamond with uniform hue is very rare to find.
A Natural diamond of a different colour may have a green overtone, such as a blue-green diamond or a yellow-green diamond but its very rare to find a green diamond.
INTENSITY OF THE COLOR is determined by:
• The level of radiation the stone had been subjected to.
• The duration of the exposure.
• The mass of the diamond.
”Skin stones.” are the most commonly found Green diamonds. In these diamonds, only the surface contains a green hue as a result of exposure to weaker levels of radiation (Alpha.) These stones lose the intensity of their hue during cutting and polishing procedure.
Exposure to the stronger levels of radiation (Beta and Gamma) results in Green diamonds with much richer colour and uniformity, constituting to only 0.1% of all green diamonds.
Image 1: “Gamma” collection by Optimum Diamonds exhibited at Natural History Musem of L.A.
Image 2: Various colour of a Green diamond featured in the cover of Gems & Gemology.
GRADING SCALE of Green Diamonds:
All fancy coloured diamonds are graded based on the intensity of the following:
• HUE- represents the diamond’s dominant colour. Although there might be secondary shades present as well, the hue signifies the main colour according to which the diamond is categorized, in this case – Green. The secondary colour modifiers of green diamonds include yellow, brown, grey, and in rare instances, even blue.
• TONE- represents the degree of light or darkness in the diamond.
• SATURATION- represents the intensity and strength of the colour. Diamonds with a strong saturation are considered rarer and therefore more expensive.
A green diamond’s colour grade is based on both the colours of the stone and the colour intensity level. The GIA grades green diamonds on the following scale:
*Faint Green.
*Very Light Green.
*Light Green.
*Fancy Light Green.
*Fancy Green.
*Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, and Fancy Deep.
Image 1: Rare Green diamond ring by Tiffany.
Image 2: Rectangular-cut fancy vivid green Aurora diamond, weighing approximately 5.03cts auctioned at Christie’s.
Image 3: 4.51cts Fancy Yellowish Green Diamond Ring, set in a rose gold band and surrounded by pink diamonds sold Fortuna Auction.
PRICING AND VALUE of Green Diamonds:
• Green diamonds are considered one of the rarest Natural Fancy Color Diamond, commanding a very high price than other coloured diamonds. Besides the Cut, Clarity and Carat, the COLOR of the diamonds is a predominant factor that determines its Price and Value.
• The impact on the pricing in Green Diamond is determined by the type of the secondary hues which means if the diamond’s secondary hue is less rare than the green hue, like yellow or brown, it’s value will be lower. But if the secondary hue is the rare, desirable, and popular blue colour – the value and popularity of the green diamond will very high.
• Since most green diamonds have one or more additional hues, pure green diamonds, especially those with natural body tones, are considered rarer and therefore priced higher.
• Green Diamonds, although extremely rare, are not as popular as red, blue or pink diamonds. These diamonds are collector’s paradise and not very popular for investment diamonds.
Reasons for recommendation to buy Green Diamond with an original certificate from a renowned laboratory are:
• Alpha, beta, and gamma radiation (Reference Part 2 ) that occurs naturally in the depths of the earth and volcanoes, causing the green colour in Green Diamonds can be artificially created in laboratories, making it challenging to determine whether a Green Diamond is natural or artificially created. Leading gemology institutes have developed detailed lab tests that detect if the diamond’s green colour is created in a natural or artificial process.
• Fancy colour diamonds like Green, Pink, Red, Blue, Orange are amongst the rare colour diamonds that command a very high value on the purchase, it is always advisable to buy a certified stone from a reliable source, that proves its authenticity.
A 41cts Natural green rare Type IIa, VS1 “The Dresden Green Diamond” from the Golconda mine. In November 2019, it was sent on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
With this, we have come to the end of the article, I would love to know of your takeaways from it. Let me know in the comments below.
All Credits: Naturallycolored Blog, Reddiam Blog, Leibish Blog, Astteria.Blog.
Disclaimer: The above images belong to their respective sources, where rights may be held. Usage here is for information/reference purpose only.
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