Is a Yellow Diamond for You?

July 16th, 2013 by Noam Flint

Diamonds are always in fashion thanks to their glittery shine and fabulous reputation. While you might already have a stunning engagement ring, there is certainly room to add more sparkle to your collection. A great way to revamp how you look at jewelry is to invest in colored diamonds.

Yellow diamonds have been growing in popularity over the past few years thanks to a slew of stars strutting their stuff with this mellow color on their fingers. If you’re interested in purchasing a shimmering yellow diamond ring, there are a few things to consider before selecting the best option.

Where yellow diamonds are found

An important step in finding the yellow diamond ring of your dreams is to learn a bit more about where these gemstones can be found. Yellow diamonds are found all over the world, often in locations where traditional white diamonds are mined.

However, they tend to be most prevalent in Venezuela and Africa, though surprisingly, canary diamonds have also been found in Arkansas. In fact, those who visit the Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park can dig for diamonds and keep whatever they find.

What to look for in yellow diamonds

Selecting a gorgeous yellow diamond is similar to picking out any other color diamond in terms of what to look for. Remembering the 4 Cs (color, cut, clarity and carats) will help you find a diamond that fits your needs and your budget.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) developed the International Diamond Grading System to evaluate the look and color of all diamonds. Colored diamonds are evaluated differently than colorless or white diamonds. If you’re looking for a truly remarkable diamond, it’s beneficial to focus a bit more heavily on the color in colored diamonds whereas on whites the focus is on the cut.

White diamonds are graded on an alphabetical scale from D to Z. For example, D through F diamonds are typically considered “colorless,” while those in the G through J section are listed as “near colorless”. Diamonds rated K through M tend to be considered “faint yellow,” while N through Z means a diamond ranges in color from “very light” to “light yellow”. The price of a white diamond decreases as we go near Z, however, once the yellow tint becomes a yellow color and the diamond is considered a Fancy Diamond, the prices go up again exponentially and the yellow becomes an advantage.