In its pure an perfect
form, diamond is colorless. However, in nature or even when made in a
laboratory, diamond are never composed just of perfectly arranged
carbon atoms. At the atomic level even colorless and semingly flawless
diamonds contain trace amounts of other elements sucn as nitrogen or
hydrogen, or they may contain structural defects sucn as missing carbon
atoms. When present in specific atomic arrangements and concentratinos,
most minor components of defects can cause absorption of specific
wavelengths that give rise to color.