Diamonds have long been associated with love and romance, intrigue and luxury. Clear diamonds have traditionally been one of the most expensive gemstones to purchase, with consumers paying a premium for the clearest and whitest of diamonds. However, a new type of diamond, the colored diamond, has gained a tremendous amount of popularity based upon its rarity and the sparkling array of available colors.
Colored Diamond Formation
Colored diamonds form the same way that clear diamonds do: carbon molecules up to 150 kilometers deep in the earth's mantle are subjected to intense pressure and heat and become diamonds. For a diamond to be colored, however, certain other elements must be present during formation.
Rarity
Colored diamonds are so rare, and the conditions necessary to create them so scarce, that only one out of every ten thousand diamonds that make it to the earth's surface are colored.
Yellow
For a yellow diamond to form, nitrogen must be present during heat and pressurization. Yellow diamonds are found mainly in South Africa.
Blue
Blue diamonds form when boron is present and reacts with the carbon molecules. Blue diamonds are mined mainly in Pretoria, South Africa.
Pink
Pink diamonds form when there is an abnormal amount of molecular compression during the diamond's formation. Pink diamonds are exceptionally rare, are found in small numbers in India, Brazil, and Tasmania. The largest source is the Argyle mine in Australia.
Brown
Brown diamonds also form when intense compression is present. They are mined in larger quantites than pink, though both are mined in the Argyle mine in Australia. Brown diamonds are also mined in Africa and Siberia.
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