What if I instructed you the diamonds you might be possible sporting now are usually not “white” diamonds however relatively “colorless” diamonds? It’s true: the crystal clear, glowing pure beauties that humanity has adored for hundreds of years are sometimes incorrectly known as “white”; precise white diamonds are a part of the one in 10,000 diamonds that may be graded as “fancy colour.” In fact fancy colour diamonds are nothing new (really they’re as previous as time) and have even gained mainstream publicity ever since celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Scarlett Johansson debuted them on engagement rings.

Once you consider fancy colour diamonds, you most likely think about the ultra-rare yellow, pink, blue and inexperienced shades of diamonds we regularly see at auctions or on purple carpets; fancy white diamonds are much less acquainted. Though these stones are virtually unprecedented to the common particular person, they are often among the rarest and most fun diamonds we see in nature, with a colour that man has by no means replicated.

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Fancy White Diamonds Are Among the many Rarest of Coloured Diamonds

So what are fancy white diamonds? Fancy white diamonds are a pure phenomenon that kinds diamonds with a white colour typically described as milky or hazy. They’re in a uncommon subset of fancy colour diamonds as a result of, not like all different fancy colour diamonds, they don’t get colour from non-carbon components and different atomic-level defects; their colour comes from submicroscopic inclusions that scatter the sunshine and provides the white look. These inclusions are so small that conventional optical microscopes are usually not highly effective sufficient to isolate them, so scientists typically use electron microscopes to review them. This distinctive trigger may also give the diamonds an opalescent look that have to be seen in particular person to actually respect.

White diamonds are so extremely uncommon that little info exists on what number of have been found. Based on GIA, fewer than 2,000 pure fancy white and black diamonds have been submitted for grading since 2008. On this case, fancy white and black diamonds are grouped since they’re the one two diamonds with colour derived from inclusions. Additionally, in line with GIA, the overwhelming majority (82%) of white diamonds are sort IaB, making them a subset of a uncommon diamond sort. Most diamonds of this kind shaped greater than 150 miles under the earth’s floor, making them among the many deepest forming diamonds. Their excessive rarity and the unlikelihood of forming in bigger sizes are undoubtedly why there are not any well-known examples of white diamonds and why most individuals don’t even know they exist.

Learn Extra: The Science of Coloured Diamonds

Opposite to perception, GIA grades fancy white diamonds like different fancy colour diamonds. Most fancy colour diamonds are graded based mostly on the extent of saturation of the colour, as an example “fancy mild yellow” or “fancy intense yellow,” however since white is a impartial colour, there isn’t any variation, the stone is both fancy white–or it isn’t. The variation in fancy white diamonds is usually how clear or opaque they seem and the standard diamond readability grading.

The outstanding rarity of pure colour diamonds has had scientists making an attempt to copy them for years. Many processes have been developed that may change the colour of a diamond to inexperienced, pink, blue, yellow and virtually every part in between. In fact, these “color-treated” diamonds could look near the pure colours, however they’re at all times distinguishable and nowhere close to the worth of the pure colours they mimic. Remarkably, fancy white diamonds are the one fancy colour diamond with no recognized methodology or remedy to imitate their distinctive look. A flowery white lab-grown diamond has additionally by no means been noticed.

Their unknown and underappreciated nature makes white diamonds supreme for connoisseurs searching for a miracle of nature on the high of the rarity charts, however with out the intense prices of most different pure fancy colour diamonds.