What is a Yellow Diamond?

When you picture a diamond, you probably imagine the classic colorless gem. But did you know that diamonds can be found in nearly every color of the rainbow? These are known as fancy-colored diamonds. Yellow diamonds, sometimes known as canary diamonds, are one of the more popular fancy-colored diamonds on the market. 

What Causes a Diamond to Be Yellow?

Natural fancy color diamonds get their color during the formation process. When chemical impurities are trapped within the diamond, they can affect the gem’s color. Yellow diamonds’ color comes from nitrogen. Colorless diamonds usually have little to no nitrogen in them. 

You may have heard before that diamonds’ color is graded on D to Z scale, with more desirable “colorless” diamonds falling at the higher end of this scale. Diamonds at the lower end of this range will have a noticeable yellow or brown tint. 

A fancy-colored yellow diamond is distinct from a diamond that falls within the D-Z color range. Fancy-colored diamonds fall outside this range completely and are graded differently. Yellow diamonds are graded as Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Dark, Fancy Deep, Fancy Intense, or Fancy Vivid (aka Canary).

Put another way, when the color saturation in yellow diamonds is faint, the diamonds lose value. Only when the yellow diamonds have considerable saturation are they considered more valuable.

How Rare are Yellow Diamonds?

Yellow diamonds are rarer than diamonds that fall on the D-Z color scale but they are more common than many other fancy-colored diamonds. The rarest naturally colored diamonds are purple, red, orange, and green. Pink and blue diamonds are also scarcely found in nature. These diamonds are sometimes found with faint color saturation, but deep saturation in these color tones is exceedingly rare.

Stop in at Koser Jewelers!

Is a yellow diamond on your wish list? Stop in at Koser Jewelers and talk to one of our jewelry professionals! Stop in any time or give us a call at 717-653-4941.