As most women will attest, diamonds are indeed a girl’s best friend. They never go out of style, they can beautifully complement anything in your wardrobe and they can look mighty impressive when flashed around. What is the draw of diamonds over other colored gemstones? Well, one would assume that that lies in personal preference. Some women like the classic diamond look while others prefer to make a bold statement by adding color and pizzazz to their look.
An additional preference for diamonds versus other gems is that diamonds are so durable. They can stand up against the beating of everyday wear, like with a wedding ring. Other gems, while strong, can crack and chip under duress; however, keep in mind that does not mean they will for sure. Diamonds are known to be the strongest natural material on the planet. That strength and longevity provides a great deal of comfort for men and women who invest a lot of money into their jewels.
What many men and women are realizing as of late, is that they just might be able to get the best of both worlds. Colored diamonds give you that durability of a diamond, not to mention the pretty sparkle, but they also allow you to vary your diamond jewelry and add amazing color to your jewelry collection.
Colored diamonds are pretty rare and very expensive. But if you want some bling that will get you noticed in a crowd, then a colored diamond is sure to do that. There is a variety of naturally colored diamonds on the market. You have your varying shades of brown and yellow that are more common, while your blue and pink shades are less common. Regardless of the color you choose, your colored diamond will make a bold statement about you.
For proof of value, take a look at last year’s figures for diamond sales at renowned auction house, Christie’s. While top quality, colorless diamonds were going for more than $100,000 a carat, there were colored diamonds that sold for more $1,000,000. One million dollars for a single carat jewel is an astronomical figure, but as you can see, there are those that will pay that for the beautiful gems.
If you want proof that colored diamonds are a hit fashion-wise, you can look to the fashion forward faces of Hollywood. The stars and starlets of Hollywood are well known for wearing and gifting outstanding, and sometimes outlandish, jewelry. One notable instance of a colored diamond in Hollywood is the engagement ring that Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez back when they were together. She sported a huge 6.10-carat pink diamond on her finger for quite some time. The ring often garnered more attention than the couple themselves.
An interesting fact about that engagement ring is it seems there was a little bit of controversy surrounding it. The diamond was listed as a fancy intense pink, making it far more rare and far more valuable than a simple fancy pink. As it turns out, there’s talk that the stone was originally pink with orange hues. It was re-cut a few times before it finally landed on J.Lo’s finger at the reported 6.10-carat weight, but it will be interesting to see how the stone started. It’s a good thing that she gave Ben the ring back after they parted ways and he decided to return it to Harry Winston. Having the ring back in the market means that those that were skeptical on the true value of the stone may have an opportunity to investigate it further.
While that particular pink diamond was made famous in Hollywood, there is a strong preference for yellow diamonds as well. This was made obvious at quite a few of the recent awards shows. Industry beauties such as Penelope Cruz, Mary J. Blige and America Ferrera were all seen rocking yellow diamonds. Penelope graced us with white and yellow diamond earrings paired with a 7-carat yellow diamond ring at the Golden Globes. America, of “Ugly Betty” fame, glittered with yellow diamond earrings at the SAG awards. Mary showed up at the Grammy’s with a sizzling 30-carat yellow diamond ring.
Evidence of the popularity of colored diamonds does extend beyond Hollywood. Take for example French president Nicholas Sarkozy. When he decided to propose to girlfriend Carla Bruni, a simple diamond solitaire would not do. He chose instead to present her with a heart shaped “Cupidon” ring styled and made by Dior with pink diamonds.
While the pinks and yellows seemed to be the most talked about colored diamonds, there are gems of all colors. Brown, yellow, grey, blue, green, pink, red and black are all colors that you can find naturally in diamonds, with red diamonds being the most rare.
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