The Diamond Blog

When looking at diamonds, usually you look for a distinct lack of color, as any coloration of the diamond makes it worth less. This is not the case in rare vibrant color diamonds, such as the red colored diamond, which is called a fancy colored diamond. Considered some of the rarest diamonds ever found, they are known to come from Australia. It is not known how many red diamonds there are in the world, but some think there are about 50 left in the world.

Red diamonds are made when nitrogen and pressure creates the brilliant color underneath the earths surface. They are considered impure because of the nitrogen, yet they are so rare that the impurities make extremely expensive. The first red diamond found was the 1-carat Halphen diamond. Today, there are two red diamonds that have been seen, both with a value of over 1 million dollars. They are the .95-carat Hancock diamond, and the 5.1 carat Moussaieff Red. Recently another 5.11 carat fetched an astounding 8 million dollars because of the intensity of the color and the beauty of the ring itself.

The concentration of the color is considered the most important factor, graded with a 9-tiered scale developed by the GIA, Gemological Institute of America. Grades range from faint to fancy vivid. The Argyle mine in Australia produces a very small number of red diamonds and the best ones are auctioned off each year.