Diamond Learning

How are pink, yellow and blue lab grown diamonds coloured?

How are pink, yellow and blue lab diamonds coloured? If you’re shopping for a piece of sustainable lab grown diamond jewellery, and you’re interested in beautiful, coloured lab diamonds, then this guide is for you. We’ll explain:

  • What pink, blue and yellow lab diamonds are
  • How they get their natural colour
  • Their sustainability, quality and value

What are coloured lab diamonds?

Coloured lab diamonds are lab grown diamonds that have a beautiful, vivid hue, like pink, blue or yellow. Scientists create them in a high-tech laboratory, using a method that imitates the exact way in which Mother Nature forms coloured diamonds under the earth.

Are coloured lab diamonds synthetic?

Coloured lab diamonds are still lab grown diamonds, which have the exact same physical and chemical structure as natural mined diamonds. They also look exactly alike, offering brilliant colour and beautiful sparkle. The only difference between mined and lab grown coloured diamonds is their origin. Lab diamonds grow in a laboratory, while mined diamonds form under the earth.

How are pink, yellow and blue lab diamonds coloured?

Pink, blue and yellow lab diamonds exhibit natural colour. While the lab diamond is growing, natural mineral trace elements, heat and pressure are applied to it. This imitates the unique geological conditions that produced coloured diamonds under the Earth.

Let’s take a look at the colours, and see how they form:

1. Yellow lab diamonds

Yellow diamonds that come from under the earth get their colour from nitrogen trace elements. The more nitrogen there is present during the diamond’s formation, the more intense its yellow colour.

In the same way, scientists create natural yellow colour in lab diamonds. They do this by introducing nitrogen trace elements while the diamond grows. The total amount of nitrogen they use determines the intensity of the yellow colour. Small amounts of nitrogen result in beautiful light yellow colour. Whereas large amounts develop a stunning, golden-yellow hue.

2. Blue lab diamonds

Blue lab grown diamonds gain their colour from an element called boron. Like the famous blue Hope Diamond on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, all blue diamonds formed four times deeper under the Earth’s surface than most other diamonds. This means that they probably got their unique boron-blue colouration from the ancient seafloor.

Blue lab grown diamonds get their colour exactly in the same way as in nature, through the introduction of boron as the diamond grows. Small amounts of boron create sparkling light blue hues, while large amounts are responsible for dazzling deep blue colour.

3. Pink diamonds

Earth-mined pink diamonds do not get their colour from minerals in the same way that blue and yellow diamonds do. Instead, their pink colour is due to a unique crystal structure, which results from intense volcanic heat and pressure during their formation. Therefore, pink diamonds refract light differently from other diamonds, and that’s why we perceive their colour as pink.

In a laboratory, scientists imitate Mother Nature when growing pink diamonds. There are three scientific methods they can use to produce the same unique, natural colour that we see in pink eart-mined diamonds. These three methods involve either intense heat, altered pressure, irradiation, or combinations of the three.

Are lab grown coloured diamonds worth buying?

To answer this question, it’s important to first note that mined coloured diamonds are extremely rare and expensive. For example, earth-mined pink diamond prices start at around £8,000 per carat. In comparison, lab grown coloured diamonds really do look stunning, just like mined coloured diamonds – yet they’re much more affordable than their mined counterparts.

What is their price?

As is the case with all diamonds, the price of coloured lab diamonds varies according to four quality factors. These are called the Four Cscolour, clarity, cut and carat weight. As a rule of thumb, however, lab diamonds are always much more affordable than mined ones. You can gain up to 75% more carats on your budget, compared to if you were buying the mined equivalent.

Sustainability adds huge value

Finally, adding unmeasurable value to coloured lab diamonds is their sustainability. A mined diamond creates more than 100 pounds of carbon emissions per carat, while a lab grown diamond only produces about 6-7. If you are concerned about the environmental impact of diamond mining, then lab diamonds are the best choice for you. Not only are you saving money, but you’ll also be saving the Earth for future generations.

Final thoughts on pink, yellow and blue lab diamonds

The most important takeaway here is that coloured lab diamonds ARE still lab grown diamonds – just coloured. They are not a diamond substitute. What’s more, they are sustainable, affordable, and just as beautiful as coloured mined diamonds. The only difference lies in people’s perception of their value and origin. Rest assured, there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to choosing the jewellery that you love. The fact that beautiful coloured lab diamonds exist simply means that you now have more choice.


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