The Difference Between Yellow Diamonds and Canary Diamonds

Natural yellow diamonds are quite common amongst fancy colored diamonds, though a lot rarer than white diamonds. There is a common misconception that ayellow diamond is less valuable than a colorless diamonds. However, Intense and vivid yellow diamonds can be really quite valuable although very light or slightly yellow diamonds are fairly common and are worth much less.



The pure yellow stones are much more valuble than yellow diamonds with secondary brown hues, however, if the diamond happens to have secondary colors of green-yellow or orange yellow, this could raise the price of the stone quite substantially. The reason being that these stones are even harder to find than yellow diamonds.



Natural fancy yellow diamonds are rated by their strength and intensity of color. The highest-quality grade is the Vivid Yellow, followed by the Intense Yellow diamond. The lowest quality of yellow diamond is the Light Yellow diamond, closely followed by the Fancy Yellow. A number of tones of Vivid Yellow diamonds as well as the rarer Intense Yellow diamonds are called Canary Diamonds. Canary diamonds are the most rare amongst yellow diamonds and as a result they cost much more and are desirable both by investors and classy buyers. The canary diamond has a very special tone of yellow, and even if you have never seen a Canary Yellow before, once you see it, you will “recognize” it immediately!



Yellow diamonds look remarkable when they are mixed with white diamonds and typically yellow diamonds are set in yellow gold. A 3-stone ring should include white stones and the yellow stone should be set in the center. A beautiful setting is a yellow diamond with trapeze, triangle or oval white diamonds..



Just as with other fancy color diamonds the coloration remains the main criterion that influences how much the diamond is worth, then comes size and clarity. Clarity is also crucial in the evaluation of fancy yellow diamonds, though this is much less than in traditional white diamonds.



Fancy colored diamonds are most frequently found in a Radiant cut. This is considered the ideal shape for increasing the color. Yellow diamonds can be also in the Cushion cut, Oval cut, and Pear and Heart shapes. The rarest are the Emerald, Square Emerald and the Brilliant cuts (round shape). The price of these shapes are substantially higher for all fancy diamonds and not merely for yellow diamonds.



Fancy colored diamonds have completely different standards to white diamonds in regards to cut quality. The objective when cutting a fancy color diamond should be to make the best us of the depth and saturation of the diamond's color while managing to strike a balance between carat weight and brilliance. It is crucial that the stone is purchased with a grading report from a respected laboratory such as GIA, HRD, IGI or EGL. This report must state that the diamond color is "Natural". The report should also state the intensity of color, together with how the color is distributed throughout the stone.



The Octahedron is the largest naturally formed octahedral diamond in the world at 616 carats and is a Canary Diamond. This natural stone was discovered in 1964 in the Dutoitspan mine, located in the Kimberley region of South Africa. The Kimberley Octahedron continues to be uncut, so the color and distribution grades cannot be given to this stone. The owners of the mine prefer to conserve the diamond in the state is as found. The Kimberley Octahedron is on display at the visitor’s center at the Kimberely Big Hole mine.