Diamond
Summary table of color of diamonds
Blue |
boron-containing |
Blue |
irradiated |
Green |
natural radiation |
Green |
irradiated |
Orange |
irradiated & heated |
Orange |
nitrogen-containing |
Pink |
natural |
Yellow |
nitrogen-containing |
Yellow |
irradiated & heated |
Images of the absorption spectra of natural color diamonds.
- fancy
intense yellow, GIA 4890, ~8.0 mm thick, 2.08 ct,
rectangle. A type Ia diamond.
- fancy
intense blue, GIA 1119, ~6.3 mm thick, 1.15 ct, pear
shape. A type IIb diamond.
- fancy
intense pink, GIA 7861, ~4.5 mm thick, 0.39
ct, cushion. A type. A type Ia diamond with pink
graining (thin bands of pink color).
- fancy
blue-green, GIA 4684, ~5.4 mm thick, 0.48
ct, oval. A type Ia diamond with radiation damage.
- fancy
brown-yellow, GIA 6848, ~8.7 mm thick, 2.40
ct, round. A type IIa diamond
- fancy
deep brown-orange, GIA 6154, ~5.3 mm thick, 1.21 ct,
rectangle. A type Ib diamond.
- fancy
gray-violet,
GIA 6764, ~2.6 mm thick, 0.10
ct, pear shape. A type Ia diamond with high hydrogen
concent.
All of the data spectra above were obtained at room
temperature. For laboratory testing, spectra are usually
obtained a very low temperatures to make the sharper bands stand out
prominently.
Irradiated diamond absorption spectra.
Some diamonds owe their color to laboratory irradiation. The spectra
below
are all of laboratory irradiated diamonds.
Synthetic diamond spectra.
A picture of a polished slice of a deep blue synthetic diamond prepared
from a synthetic
blue diamond
made by GE (45 Kbyte) showing zonation of the boron.
Link to a collection
of references to mostly color and visible spectroscopy of
diamonds
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revised
3-Jul-2022