Types of Diamonds

Diamond prices depend on the type of diamond you choose. 

Natural diamonds are classified by the type and quantity of chemical impurities found within them. Broadly there are 2 types, Type I contains nitrogen molecules and Type II contains other impurities other than nitrogen. These impurities are something you can't seen with a jeweller's lens but with much stronger laboratory microscopes. 

Only about 20% of all the natural diamonds found are used as gemstones, the rest are used for industrial purposes. Type I diamonds make up about 98% of all diamonds and are colourless or yellow or brown, whereas the very rare Type II diamonds are the "purest of the pure" colourless diamonds or come in a range of yellow, brown, pink, purple, blue and grey colours. 

White Diamonds

White diamonds are produced by mines all over the world in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This is the most common type of diamonds, where the most valuable types are colourless or whitest diamonds. White diamonds can be found in all shapes and sizes.

Coloured Diamonds

The 4C's of colour, cut, clarity and carat weight apply to coloured diamonds just as they do to colourless diamonds except the intensity of colour, not lack of it, plays a greater part in the valuation.

	Yellow	Fancy yellow diamonds come in a broad range of shades ranging from light yellow to a rich canary colour.
	Blue	Fancy blue diamonds are available in a wide range of shades, from the blue of the sky to a more "steely" colour than sapphire
	Pink	The pink diamond is the world's most rare and valuable diamond.The Argyle mine is the world's foremost source of unrivalled intense pink diamonds, producing 95% of the world's supply. However, an extremely small proportion of Argyle Diamonds production is Pink colour, in fact less than one tenth of 1% is classified Pink.  The pink diamonds of India, Brazil and Africa were characteristically light in colour.
	Champagne	Champagne diamonds are naturally coloured diamonds that are produced in a wide range of colours from light straw to rich cognac.

About Buying Diamonds is a comprehensive guide explaining diamond characteristics like cut, colour, clarity & carat, as well as the different diamond shapes and types of diamonds. You can learn what to buy for your diamond jewellery needs such as diamond rings or diamond bracelets and how these grades will affect diamond prices. The process of buying diamonds online may be daunting to some, so throughout this site we offer advice and information on buying all types of diamonds including loose diamonds and wholesale diamonds and the reasons why you should always buy certified diamonds.