Colored diamonds are trendy, curious, beautiful, and until recently misunderstood. Many people do not realize that diamonds are not always white or colorless. In fact, they come in roughly 300 different colors, and are just now gaining serious attention as a sought after stone. There was a time when the color of a diamond was considered a flaw, but today we know these hued beauties are far more rare than their colorless siblings. Natural colored diamonds range the entire rainbow gamut – pinks, blues, reds, browns, grays, lavenders, yellows and oranges. Colored diamonds are not included in the colorless diamond D to Z classification, but have their own classification terminology that addresses the variety, rarity, and quality of each stone. There have been some famous natural colored diamonds, including the Blue Heart, Allnatt (vivid yellow), Tiffany (canary yellow), and don’t forget the exquisite 6.1 carat pink radiant diamond Ben Affleck gave to Jennifer Lopez for their short-lived engagement. Men and women are gravitating to colored diamonds for their important jewelry pieces. A colored diamond can make a perfect piece of jewelry just a little more perfect. Celebrities like Victoria Beckha, and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy love their colored diamonds, and fashion houses like Dior, Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton have incorporated colored diamonds into the couture. If you’re planning to purchase a loose diamond or diamond engagement ring for your girl, consider a diamond in her favorite color. Pricing a colored diamond Natural colored diamonds are priced according to three basic measures: Hue: Like everything else, certain diamond colors are more popular than others. The popularity of the diamond color you choose can affect the price. The highest prices on colored diamonds right now go for pink, blue, orange, green and red diamonds. Demand: While we are on the subject, some diamond hues are just not as popular as others, and the lowered demand definitely affects the prices. Jewelers working with all shades of diamonds believe that those shades that may be getting little more than a yawn today may very well turn into the next big trend tomorrow. The grey diamond is a perfect example of an exquisite colored diamond, but the low demand for grey keeps the price down as well. Some colors have composite names with a secondary color, like orangy-brown, orangy-pink, and grayish-blue. These are less expensive than diamonds with one distinct color, although this could change as well, especially as some of the composite color diamonds are exquisite. The rarest natural colored diamonds are green and red, and because of their rarity they have always been in high demand. Chameleon diamonds, with their own network of enthusiastic collectors, change color when they are heated. The colored diamond’s value has been on the rise for more than two decades, and it is expected to continue to rise. Buying a colored diamond for an engagement ring, wedding band, or any special jewelry piece adds that much more character to something beautiful, and very personal.