choosing pink diamonds

If you thought pink diamonds were so last year, than you’re in for a surprise. Just last week, a fancy vivid pink diamond was sold at an auction for nearly $17.8 million, which makes it officially the most expensive pink diamond sold at an auction so far. Yes, pink diamonds are like a magnet for the ladies in particular, so how does one choose a pink diamond that’s both beautiful and of high quality at the same time?

Pink diamonds have this interesting color due to some physical abnormalities or impurities found in their structure. Most pink diamonds come from Australia and natural pink stones are pretty rare, making them some of the most expensive fancy-colored stones. When buying pink diamonds, the most important things you should pay attention to are the size and the color density, because these two elements will set the price higher or lower and you’ll notice the difference in your wallet.

How important is the color of pink diamonds?

The color for pink diamonds is evaluated by three components: tone, hue and saturation.

  1. Tone is what tells you how light or dark a color is. Naturally, it comes to the personal preference how you choose the diamond, but usually too light or too dark stones don’t have a discernible primary color and are not so desirable. Medium-dark stones on the other hand, have a well-defined hue, so the color looks more beautiful.
  2. Hue is the visible color of the fancy diamond. The most common hue for pink diamonds is, naturally, pink. However, in a stone you can also see secondary hues of a primary color. Secondary hues usually enhance the primary color, making the diamond even more valuable.  If the secondary hues outshadow the primary color, distracting the eye from it, the value is automatically lower, because the color won’t appear as vivid. Common secondary hues for pink diamonds are orange, purple or brown. Purple and orange give value to the stone, while brown or yellow secondary hues are not sought out by buyers. Pink diamonds with no secondary hues, but with a vivid pink primary color are the most expensive ones because they are very rare.
  3. Saturation is the intensity of the color. Not just pink diamonds, but any kind of fancy diamonds are more expensive if they have a saturated color. Therefore, deep pink diamonds are more valuable than pink diamonds with light coloring. The most expensive pink diamonds in terms of saturation are those who have a hue closer to red, because red diamonds are the rarest colored diamonds.

Carat weight

Like for any diamond, carat weight is also very important to set a price. As fancy-colored diamonds are rarer, bigger diamonds are more expensive. Especially with pink diamonds, because these stones are so much in trend, a diamond bigger than 0.3 carats is considerably more expensive than smaller but otherwise comparable stones. Pink diamonds bigger than 0.5 carats are extremely rare and therefore very expensive.

Clarity

For pink diamonds, clarity is graded the same way as it is for other types of diamonds, although it should be mentioned that clarity is not as important for fancy-colored diamonds like for colorless ones because flaws are not so visible due to the coloring. So at least in this aspect you don’t have to pay more for a flawless pink diamond, because flaws are unnoticeable for the naked eye. Something in the SI1 or SI2 clarity range looks stunning and it’s  a little more budget-friendly (as much as pink diamonds can be).

Cut

Colored diamonds are not cut with proportions used to maximize brilliance, like in the case of colorless diamonds. This is just a secondary characteristic for colored diamonds, therefore they are cut to enhance and showcase the color intensity. Brilliance is something to be considered, only if you’re satisfied with the diamond’s color saturation.

If you plan on buying a pink diamond, or any type of diamond, or if you already have a diamond and would like to know how much it’s worth, AGI New York provides certified appraisal services.