Pink diamonds signify everything that colorless diamonds do – everlasting love, beauty, value, and timelessness. In addition, they also symbolize happiness.
Wearing a pink diamond is believed to enhance creativity, which is why these beautiful stones are most popular among artists, writers, and musicians. A pink diamond makes a great gift for those born in April. Also, gifting your significant other a pink diamond engagement ring is a great way to start your life together. In addition, they make great gifts for tenth and sixtieth wedding anniversaries.
Pink diamonds are not only breathtakingly beautiful, but also indicative of softness, luxury, and femininity. They look great on you irrespective of the occasion and the time of the day. When you wear pink diamond jewelry, you purify and strengthen your nerves and sense organs. These rare and valuable stones stimulate your spiritual self and balance your energy. They multiply your intuitiveness and aesthetic sense.
If you have decided to buy a pink diamond, the following guide will be of great help to you.
Pink Diamonds – Know the Facts
Pink diamonds are diamonds that are pink in color. Scientists still do not know for sure what gives pink diamonds their attractive color, but most of them agree that it could be because of the additional stress and pressure that diamonds undergo during their formative stages in the depths of the earth.
Scientists also have a theory that seismic shocks push colorless diamonds closer to the surface of the earth, altering their molecular structure in the process and giving them their adorable pink color. They are currently testing this theory on the pink diamonds mined at Argyle in Kimberley in Western Australia.
Pink diamonds are found in the diamond mines of Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Siberia, Canada, and Tanzania. However, they are believed to have been first mined at Kollur in Andhra Pradesh, India. Pink diamonds were unearthed throughout the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries in the mines of Brazil’s Minas Gerais.
Although they are still found in India and Brazil, 80% of the pink diamonds in the market have come from Kimberley’s Argyle mine. Only 0.1% of the 20 million carat diamonds mined in Argyle comprises pink diamonds. The process of cutting and polishing them further reduces their weight.
The fact that they are hard to obtain makes them very rare and valuable, especially as serious buyers of pink diamonds are interested only in stones mined in Argyle.
The following are some of the most popular pink diamonds in history:
- The oldest pink diamonds are the Noor-ul-ain and the Daria-i-noor diamonds, which belong to the royal family of Iran.
- John Williamson, a geologist hailing from Canada, gifted a pink diamond weighing 23.6 carats to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947.
- Pink Panther, the world’s largest pink diamond, became the MacGuffin of Pink Panther, a movie released in 1963.
- Pink diamonds became very popular when Ben Affleck presented a pink diamond engagement ring weighing 6.1 carat to Jennifer Lopez in 2002.
- Pink diamonds became further popular among the general public when Pink Star, a pink diamond weighing 59.6 carat was sold for $83 million at an auction held in Geneva. Isaac Wolf, a diamond cutter based in New York, bought it. He later renamed the diamond as the Pink Dream.
Mined Pink Diamonds vs. Lab Grown Pink Diamonds
Pink diamonds are either mined from the earth in diamond mines or created artificially in a lab. Lab-grown diamonds are chemically and physically similar to natural, real, or mined diamonds and are, therefore, were popular among diamond enthusiasts.
How Nature Creates Pink Diamonds
We are quite sure about how diamonds of other colors are created. For example, we know that blue diamonds get their color from traces of boron in a diamond’s crystalline structure and that nitrogen traces are responsible for the color of yellow diamonds. But pink diamonds are still a mystery. Scientists are still puzzled about the origins of the color pink in diamonds.
Everybody agrees that pink diamonds were originally colorless diamonds that experienced extreme pressure and stress when they were deep within the earth. As a result, their lattice was distorted, leading to the creation of grains and zones of pink color.
The above-mentioned, however, is just a theory. So far, nobody has cracked the mystery of how pink diamonds got their color.
How Labs Create Pink Diamonds
Owing to their rarity, natural pink diamonds are very expensive. Most diamond enthusiasts just cannot afford a pink diamond. To satisfy their longing for a pink diamond, they purchase lab-grown pink diamonds that are physically, optically, and chemically similar to natural pink diamonds.
Lab-grown pink diamonds are affordable and just as beautiful as the natural stones. If you are not an expert, you will hardly notice the difference between a natural pink diamond and a lab-grown pink diamond.
First, laboratories use the High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) procedure to produce light yellow rough diamonds. Then the diamond is bombarded with neutrons in a procedure known as irradiation, and it is this procedure that gives the diamond its pink hue. Finally, the diamond is subjected to a procedure that annealing, in which it is heated to spread its color evenly.
Lab-grown pink diamonds are anywhere in the range of faint pink to vivid pink. As previously mentioned, there is no difference in the chemical and physical properties of lab-grown and mined diamonds. The only difference is that the latter is a rare work of nature that gets its value because of its rarity.
Should You Buy Lab Grown Pink Diamonds?
If you want the real stuff and don’t mind paying for it, you should buy natural pink diamonds. You will find tips on how to purchase natural pink diamonds in the next section.
If you cannot afford the real stuff, you must go in for the lab-grown pink diamonds. As already mentioned, they are physically, optically, and chemically the same as natural pink diamonds. They are graded just like natural pink diamonds in gemological institutes and come with a certificate.
Also, there are some other benefits to purchasing pink diamonds:
- Since they are made under controlled conditions in a laboratory, they hardly have any impurities, inclusions, and flaws.
- They are at least 40% cheaper than natural pink diamonds.
- You can rest assured that no human rights have been violated while creating pink diamonds in a lab.
- The procedure of creating pink diamonds in a lab is eco friendly.
- Since they are physically and chemically similar to mined diamonds, you can consider them to be real diamonds.
Natural Pink Diamond Buying Guide for Serious Buyers
Since only a few of them are mined every year, pink diamonds are very rare and valuable. You have to pay quite a price to obtain one of them for your engagement ring.
When you shop for a natural pink diamond, here are few factors you must consider.
- Color– When it comes to pink diamonds, color is not just color. Instead, it is a combination of hues, tones, and saturation.
- Hue:Hue is what you see with your naked eye. The primary hue of a pink diamond is always pink, but some of them may also have secondary hues, which greatly impact their price. Some pink diamonds are devoid of secondary hues, a property that gives them great value. Pink diamonds with orange and purple secondary hues are much more expensive than pink diamonds with brown secondary hues.
- Tone:The tone determines the darkness or lightness of a pink diamond. Gemological institutes have graded pink diamonds as follows:
- Faint Pink
- Very Light Pink
- Light Pink
- Fancy Light Pink
- Fancy Pink
- Fancy Intense Pink
- Fancy Vivid Pink
- Fancy Dark Pink
- Fancy Deep Pink
- Saturation:Saturation indicates the intensity of the pink color of the diamond. Intense pink diamonds are way more expensive than faint pink diamonds.
- Carat – Carat refers to weight, not size. A carat is 0.2gms or 100 points. When you are buying fancy pink diamonds, carat makes a huge difference to the amount you have to pay. Heavier pink diamonds are pricier.
For example, if you buy 100 pink diamonds of 0.01 carat each, making up a total of 1 carat, you will have to pay only $2000 – $2,500. However, one pink diamond weighing one carat will cost you $30,000 – $40,000. You may wonder at the difference in price, but it is because heavier diamonds are rarer than lighter diamonds. The heavier the pink diamond, the greater is its price per carat.
- Clarity– You will hardly notice any flaws, inclusions, or imperfections in a pink diamond with your naked eye. External and internal flaws, if any, will be visible only under a magnifying glass. Pink diamonds are given the following clarity grading in gemological institutes:
- Flawless (FL)
- Internally Flawless (IF)
- Very Very Slightly Included (VVS1 & VVS2)
- Very Slightly Included (VS1 & VS2)
- Slightly Included (SI1 & SI2)
- Included (I1 & I2)
A pink diamond with a lower clarity grading would definitely cost less than a diamond with a higher clarity grading. Go in for a diamond that is eye clean to cut costs.
- Cut– The intent of the diamond cutter is to bring the best out of a rough diamond. A well-cut stone highlights its best features and enables it to reflect the maximum quantity of light. Get a diamond of the best cut even if you have to pay more for it as a poorly cut stone will just not look as attractive as you would desire it to be.
If you would like to purchase a natural pink diamond, don’t forget to ask for the certificate. Only certificates issued by a reputed gem testing lab such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) are reliable. A certificate gives you all the required information about a diamond, including details of its origin, color and clarity grading, cut, pricing, and much more. Never buy natural pink diamonds without a certificate even if the jeweler says that he will give it to you at a huge discount.
Cost of Pink Diamonds
The cost of pink diamonds has been steadily rising during the past 20 years, making them very popular among celebrities, wealthy entrepreneurs, and investors. Over the years, the supply of pink diamonds has steadily diminished, but the demand for it has sharply increased.
Thirty-eight years ago, light pink diamonds cost $10,000 per carat, but today, they cost $220,000 per carat. To put it very simply, a pink diamond is going to cost you 20 times a colorless diamond would.
Six factors impact the price of pink diamonds:
- Origin– Pink diamonds that come from mines are definitely worth more than pink diamonds created in a laboratory.
- Color– Pure pink diamonds are more expensive than impure pink diamonds that have secondary hues. But the price of an impure pink diamond can become more than a pure pink diamond if the secondary hue is rare and hard to obtain, such as violet. Faint pink, very light pink, and light pink diamonds are definitely less expensive than intense pink and deep pink diamonds.
- Carat– Heavier pink diamonds are much more expensive than the lighter stones. A one-carat stone will cost more per carat than a half-carat stone.
- Clarity– Diamonds that are higher in the clarity grade are more expensive.
- Cut– Pink diamonds with a great cut cost more than badly cut stones.
- Shape– Oval and pear shaped pink diamonds come at a much higher price than cushion and radiant diamonds. One of the most popular shapes is that of the heart, which is often seen in engagement rings.
Pink Diamond FAQs
Q1: Where can I buy an Argyle pink diamond?
A: You can buy an Argyle pink diamond through an international network of reliable Select Atelier jewelers. Purchasing from an Argyle Pink Diamonds Select Atelier ensures that you are buying an authentic pink diamond obtained from the Argyle mines.
Q2: How can I verify a pink diamond?
A: All Argyle pink diamonds weighing more than 0.15 carat are laser inscribed and their characteristics made available through a tool called Diamond Check.
Q3: Why are pink diamonds so expensive?
A: They are expensive because they are rare. Finding a pink diamond of the desired size and weight is not that easy. Pink diamonds are much more expensive than brown and yellow diamonds.
Q4: What is the worth of a pink diamond when compared to a colorless diamond?
A: A pink diamond weighing 1.5 carat is definitely worth more than a colorless diamond of the same weight. However, a colorless diamond that weighs more will also cost more than the pink diamond that weighs less.
Q5: Is it a good idea to buy a pink diamond as an investment?
A: The demand for pink diamonds is shooting up even as their supply is diminishing. Moreover, the price of pink diamonds has been rising steadily for the past twenty years and is expected to continue rising. So, it is definitely a good idea to purchase a pink diamond as investment.