COLORED DIAMOND GRADING SYSTEM

The fancy-color diamonds are blue, yellow, or pink colored. While a colorless diamond is valued for their lack of color, the fancy-color diamond is valued for the intensity of their color. The intensity of color is described by nomenclature used by international diamond grading authority (e.g. GIA and IGI) for colors that are not in the normal color range of Diamonds. These color grading system are similar to color grading system used for the colored gemstones like ruby, sapphire and emerald. The diamond grading authorities are internationally recognized laboratories that use a list of 27 color hues, the tone and saturation of these hues are then described with one of nine descriptors.

• Faint
• Very Faint
• Light
• Fancy Light
• Fancy
• Fancy Dark
• Fancy Intense
• Fancy Deep
• Fancy Vivid

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The Noor-ol-ain Diamond

Introduction

Noor-ol-Ain is the second largest historic oval pink diamond that dates back to the Mughal dynasty. It is the sister stone of Darya-ye-noor diamond.

History of the stone & Meaning of the stone’s name

Noor-ol-Ain is a persian word meanings the light of the eye. It is one of the largest pink diamonds in the world and is believed to have once formed part of an even larger gem. The Noor-ol-ain Diamond is believed to be a portion of the fabled Great Table Diamond. The fabled great Table Diamond had also been described in the journal of the French jeweller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1642, who called it the "Diamanta Grande Table".The fabled great Table Diamond was cut to form Darya-ye-noor Diamond and a smaller part called Noor-ol-ain Diamond. It was in possession of the Mughal emperors. In 1739, Nader Shah of Persia invaded Northern India, and as payment for returning the crown of India to the Mughal emperor, Muhammad, he took possession of the entire fabled treasury of the Mughals, including the Darya-ye-noor, Noor-ol-ain, the Koh-i-noor and the Peacock throne. All of these treasures were carried to Iran by Nader Shah and both of these pieces, Darya-ye-noor, Noor-ol-ain, are currently part of the Iranian Crown Jewels.

Characteristics of Diamond

Noor-ol-Ain diamond is a pale pink second largest diamond weighing around 60 carats (12 g), oval in shape.

Noor-ol-ain Diamond is Type IIa diamonds. These diamonds are almost or entirely devoid of impurities, and consequently are usually colorless, have the highest thermal conductivity as well as are very transparent in ultraviolet. Usually Type IIa diamonds have imperfections that impart yellow, brown, orange, pink, red, or purple color to the gem.

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The Darya-ye noor Diamond

Introduction

Darya-ye noor diamond weighing an estimated 182 carats (36 g).

History of the stone & Meaning of the stone’s name

The Darya-ye Noor is a Persian word meaning “Sea of Light” or "Ocean of Light". The Darya-ye Noor presently forms part of the Iranian Crown Jewels and is on display at the Central Bank of Iran in Tehran, Iran. The Darya-ye-Noor is believed to be a major portion of the fabled Great Table Diamond discovered in the Golconda mines of southern India. It found its way into the possession of the Mughal emperors. In 1739, Nader Shah of Persia invaded Northern India, and as payment for returning the crown of India to the Mughal emperor, Muhammad, he took possession of the entire fabled treasury of the Mughals, including the Darya-ye-noor, the Koh-i-noor and the Peacock throne. All of these treasures were carried to Iran by Nader Shah and the Darya-ye-noor has remained there ever since.

Characteristics of Diamond

The Darya-ye-Noor is the worlds largest pink diamonds weighing an estimated 182 carats (36 g). This diamond is an tabular free-form diamond which originated in India was extracted from Golconda mines, in Andhra Pradesh.

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Top 10 List of Famous Pink Diamonds

S/N	Name	Carat Weight	Color
1	Darya-ye Noor	182	Pale pink
2	Noor-ol-Ain Diamond	60	Pale pink
3	Steinmetz Pink Diamond	59.60	Vivid pink
4	Shah Jahan Diamond	56.71	Light pink
5	Agra Diamond	32.34	Fancy light pink
6	Pink Sunrise Diamond	29.79	Light pink
7	Rose of Dubai Diamond	25.02	Light pink
8	The Mouawad Lilac Diamond	24.44	Fancy purplish pink
9	The Williamson Diamond	23.56	Light pink
10	The Graff Pink Orchid Diamond	22.84	Fancy purplish pink

 

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Hong Kong’s First De Beers Diamond Auction fetches 4.2m pounds

The Biggest Natural Color Diamond Auction ever happened in Hong Kong, sold the most expensive diamond ever sold in Hong Kong. A 5.16-carat fancy vivid blue diamond that is internally flawless was auctioned for 4.2 m pounds at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. The spectacular, pear-shaped blue diamond is estimated to fetch between US $4.6 m to US $5.8 m (£3.8m) but ultimately purchased at a whopping 4,221,533 pounds . The Auction was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and was a part of Sotheby's Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Spring Sale 2010.

This rare blue diamond formed the part of legendary De Beers’ Millennium Jewels Collection consist of 12 exceptional diamonds put together to mark the year 2000. The Natural Colored Diamond collection, which took decades to assemble, comprised 12 rare gems all cut and polished by Steinmetz and laser inscribed with a special serial number. Although the diamond was currently part of a private collection, this was the first time that any piece from the collection has been available at auction.

Blue diamonds are among the rarest of all gemstones, their natural blue color to the presence of boron during the stone's formation. These are greatly admired are the highest per-carat priced at auction due to their combination of color, brilliance and rarity that makes them so special. Some of these unique stones were sold for $550,000-$580,000 per carat in the past.

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List of Famous Blue Diamonds

S/N	NAME	CARAT WEIGHT	COLOR
1	Hope diamond	45.52	fancy dark grayish blue
2	Tereschenko	42.92	fancy blue
3	Wittelsbach	35.56	fancy intense blue
4	Sultan of Morocco	35.27	fancy grayish blue
5	The Blue Heart	30.82	fancy intense blue
6	The Heart of Eternity	27.64	fancy vivid blue
7	Transvaal Blue	25.00	unknown color grade
8	The Blue Empress	14.00	unknown color grade
9	The Blue Magic	12.02	fancy vivid blue
10	Graff Blue	6.19	fancy blue

The Sultan of Morocco Diamond

Origin of Name

The name suggests a possible linkage with the Sultans of morocco, before the mid 19th century, but there is no information to suggest that the stone had ever been with any one of the Sultans of Morocco.

Characteristics of the stone

The diamond is a 35.27-carat, cushion-cut, fancy grayish blue stone of unknown clarity. It is a rare type 11b diamond and perhaps the 4th largest natural blue diamond in the world. Type IIb is free of nitrogen, but contain trace quantities of another impurity, boron, which imparts a blue color to the diamonds. All natural blue diamonds belong to this group. However they are extremely scarce, constituting less than 0.1 % of all natural diamonds.

History of the stone

The country of origin, mine of origin etc. of the diamond are not known. The diamond came into the possession of the Yousupov family, a Russian noble family of Tartari descent, in 1840.The source of the diamond predicted is the Kollur mines of Golconda, in Southern India because it is the only known source of blue diamonds in the world during the time the stone originated(the pre mid-19th century) in addition to this the Sultan of Morocco diamond seems to be of Indian origin.

The current owner of the Blue Diamond

After the sale of the diamond in 1922 to Cartier of New York, the next occasion we here about the diamond is in 1972, when the diamond was sold privately to a private collector in San Francisco, California. The price paid for the diamond was said to be $250,000.

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