Diamonds exist in every color of the rainbow. While white diamonds hold the undisputed place of classics in most minds, colored stones are usually a lot rarer to come by. Some in the diamond industry would even say these are more alluring than colorless gems. Green is one of the finer hues you can find jewelry grade diamonds in, with the richer variations possessing the color of limes and green apples. It is hard to find natural green diamonds.
Below is a list of facts you may wish to know about green diamonds, and hopefully they will also give you some ideas on the kind of stone you wish to own.
Skin Stones vs. Body Color
- Regarding color, green diamonds have two distinct categories: natural body color and skin toned. The former kind has a uniform hue all over it, while the latter only carries the green color on its “skin” or surface.
- Green skin stones arise from the tiny amounts of radiation, which entered the stone while it was still being formed.
- The majority of natural green diamonds are found to be skin tones. This makes body color green stones much more valuable for their rarity.
- The Dresden Green diamond is the most famous “body color” green diamond known to man, and at 40.70 carats, it is also the biggest.
Color
- Natural green diamonds get their characteristic color from being exposed to radiation while being formed, although this works differently for body color diamonds and skin tone diamonds.
- Only some parts of a skin tone diamond are exposed to radiation, causing uneven coloration. Body color stones, on the other hand, are completely exposed, and therefore end up with an even hue throughout.
- Three different types of radiation can act on a diamond to make it eventually appear green. The first is alpha radiation, which produces skin stones by penetrating just the surface of the stone. Beta radiation enters much deeper, and leave behind coloration as a result. Gamma radiation too penetrates as deeply, and causes a similar effect.
- Gamma and Beta radiation hitting green diamonds is an ultra-rare occurrence, so much so that you only have under 0.1 percent of natural stones that exhibit effects from either.
Origin
- Green diamonds occur mostly in Africa and South America, where a vast majority of these stones are mined.
- Treated and natural green diamonds are hard to tell apart.