The color purple is highly associated with royal families and noblewomen who took great pride and joy in wearing accessories and clothes with main color purple. In the early days, it was extremely difficult to come across this color, especially when discussing precious stones.
This is further supported by the claim of amethysts – a semi-precious stone that was used by women who didn’t own purple sapphires. Still, they longed for a better, more suitable precious stone that can describe their noble blood.
Fortunately, the solution came when purple diamonds were discovered. To pay respect to this magnificent precious stone, the article: “Purple diamonds: everything you need to know” has been formed.
Why are purple diamonds so difficult to find in the wild? What are the main differences between lab-grown purple diamonds and enhanced purple diamonds? How expensive purple diamonds are? Which setting works the best for purple diamond engagement rings?
If you’re interested in learning everything there is to purple diamonds, we highly recommend that you stick around. The article was assembled as a means to further elaborate on certain misconceptions and historical facts behind this precious stone.
Enjoy the ride, as today you will learn the truth behind purple diamonds!
Do Natural Purple Diamonds Exist?
Due to a lack of general information, a vast majority of people believe that colored diamonds don’t even exist. This is even more apparent when discussing purple diamonds, as most ordinary people didn’t have the opportunity to see one in person.
Because of this, all collored diamonds, especially purple diamonds, aren’t gladly accepted, as most skeptics truly believe that purple diamonds don’t exist. Let’s dissect the truth behind this story by explaining the difference between natural and artificial purple diamonds.
For starters, we’ll take a closer look at artificial purple diamonds, as they will provide a strong foothold for the rest of the article.
Related Read: Are There Real Purple Diamonds?
Hand-Made Purple Diamonds
Regardless of their size and quality, all artificial diamonds are made for the sole purpose of mimicking the natural beauty and sparkling effects of real diamonds. But, more importantly, most artificial diamonds are made as a replacement for natural diamonds.
It’s quite difficult to find and mine natural colored diamonds, especially purple diamonds, as they are one of the rarest colored diamonds on our planet. For reference, only red diamonds are rarer than purple diamonds.
Because of that, people needed to find an optimal solution to this problem, as there are a lot of people that wish to wear colored diamonds, especially purple diamonds.
As you have probably guessed, hand-made diamonds were the only solution, both cost-efficient and easy to get in large numbers. As long as you possess a laboratory strictly made for artificially making diamonds, you can produce them as much as you like.
Unfortunately, that job only belongs to a handful of people, skilled in crafting and cutting diamonds on a professional level. So, the only way for common people to obtain hand-made purple diamonds is by visiting jewelry shops and purchasing them directly from the jeweler.
We can divide hand-made purple diamonds into two different categories: Lab-created diamonds, which we previously explained, and enchanted or treated stones.
It’s important to understand the difference between these two types, as lab-created diamonds aren’t natural. They are entirely made in laboratories from scratch, whereas enchanted or treated stones are natural diamonds that were enchanted with special chemicals.
Those chemicals are responsible for coloring white diamonds, resulting in the manifestation of colored diamonds. Artificial purple diamonds can be produced in this manner. But be careful when purchasing them.
Some unauthorized jewelers will try to sell you artificially made purple diamonds with fake certificates. Because of that, it’s important to remember to purchase colored diamonds from jewelers that are deemed trustworthy. Don’t test your luck, as most artificial diamonds are worth up to 50% less than their natural counterparts!
With all of that out of the way, we can begin dissecting the mysteries of natural purple diamonds, which if you aren’t aware by now, do exist.
Where Can We Discover Purple Diamonds?
Like most other diamonds, natural purple diamonds can only be found at least 100 miles below the Earth’s surface. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you will immediately find them if you were to dig straight down in a random location.
All natural diamonds, regardless of their color, have certain rules and prerequisites that need to be fulfilled before we can begin our mining voyages. For instance, each year, only a few natural purple diamonds are discovered across the globe.
Most purple diamonds can be found in several mines in South Africa. Besides those locations, there are two mines in Russia, Arkhangelsk, and Yakutia, but those mines have produced significantly fewer purple diamonds when compared to the overall success in South Africa.
There’s a mine in Australia called the Argyle Mine, which is famous for producing extremely rare types of violet diamonds. Although there are several other mines where violet diamonds were found – only Argyle Mine gave us the opportunity to see a pure violet hue.
Through its existence, less than 100 carats of rough violet diamonds have been mined, which speaks volumes about how rare and difficult it is to discover this type of hue.
Although pure purple diamonds are more frequently found than pure violet ones, natural purple diamonds are still quite hard to find. Less than 0.1% of all diamonds discovered can be classified as purple ones.
What needs to occur in order to form purple diamonds? To answer the previous question, we need to take a look at:
The Origin Of Purple Diamonds
Most diamonds that were discovered up until this point in time are regular, colorless diamonds, which are primarily used as a fan-favorite stone for embedding in various types of jewelry.
Although significantly small, there’s a chance that colorless diamonds will form themselves closely to traces of the boron molecule. As long as there are traces of boron and a large amount of hydrogen, colorless diamonds will be influenced by them, resulting in the manifestation of purple diamonds.
The science behind this process is still vastly unexplored, as it’s frankly impossible to monitor every single process behind this natural phenomenon. At the end of the day, scientists and gemologists only believe that this process is the reason for the existence of purple diamonds.
Fortunately, you didn’t come here today to take lectures on gemology and chemistry, so we will leave the explanation as it is! Just remember that combining boron molecules and a large amount of hydrogen will result in the overall manifestation of purple diamonds.
The interesting part behind their origin is how people from the past reacted when they discovered purple diamonds. Unlike blue diamonds, purple ones were immediately accepted, as the color purple is recognized as the color of royalty.
Historical Facts About Purple Diamonds
In the early days, colored diamonds were approached with extreme caution, as it was first believed that all colored diamonds were flawed and impure. People were only seeking pure colorless diamonds, as they were both easier to handle and were easier for trading and selling.
Unlike colored diamonds, colorless ones were sometimes used as a means to buy certain objects or land, as they were extremely rare and valuable. Colored diamonds held a lower price in the early days when it came to transactions. It’s quite astonishing how expensive purple diamonds are on today’s market when compared to the early days! (more on that later)
Most people from royal families commonly wore purple clothing and accessories, as it was a convenient way to represent their royalties through a simple color – purple. Of course, purple diamonds weren’t exempt from this rule.
Before finding out about purple diamonds, royal figures were seen wearing either purple sapphires or amethysts. But, immediately after the discovery of purple diamonds, nearly all royal people shifted to them, as they were viewed as more beautiful and refined.
It’s quite easy to understand why – amethysts are only classified as semi-precious stones, whereas sapphires and purple diamonds are precious stones. Furthermore, sapphires aren’t as durable and expensive as purple diamonds. With all of that combined, we have a clear winner!
Whenever a royal event was held, women in the early days were competing among themselves, which one would show up to the royal event shining and sparkling the most.
Fortunately for them, one of the best solutions for this problem revolved around wearing extremely expensive jewelry that was embedded with precious stones. And the stone that shined the brightest was, of course, the purple diamond!
So, before the royal event started, most highborn women hurried to their designated jewelers, providing them with their precious purple diamonds, and asking them to craft the most beautiful piece of jewelry.
Whether for glory, or just to brag about it, royal women in the early days enjoyed such events, as it was a perfect opportunity to charm various men from other royal families. We can’t blame their behavior – purple diamonds are truly one of the most magnificent precious stones!
Still, not all things regarding purple stones were wonderful. When it comes to handling them, they are one of the most difficult stones to cut. Why were they so difficult to handle?
The Overall Handling Of Purple Diamonds
Regardless of their natural color, all colored diamonds are exceptionally difficult to handle, especially purple diamonds from the early days. As you all know, technology has advanced remarkably in the past few decades, resulting in the creation of various types of machines capable of cutting diamonds with laser precision.
Unfortunately, in the earlier days, professional diamond-cutters didn’t have such machines and tools at their disposal. They didn’t even have a great source of light necessary as an indirect tool for successfully handling diamonds.
We can only imagine the countless pain and suffering of professional diamond-cutters, who needed the presence of the sun to cut diamonds. Without the help of the sun, they couldn’t effectively see precisely where and how to cut a diamond.
Some of them have tried to bypass this rule by cutting diamonds in their designated quarters, only using flames as their primary source of light. But, in most cases, it wasn’t enough, especially when they needed to cut extremely valuable gems such as purple diamonds.
A quick reminder – only powerful and wealthy people owned purple diamonds. As such, only they came to professional diamond-cutters, asking for services of cutting purple diamonds.
Even a small mistake when cutting one purple diamond can lead to a disaster: Nearly all purple diamonds found across the world are formed in their rough state that weights usually no more than 3 carats. Due to their lack of size and weight, it’s quite difficult to cut them in an optimal way, so that a large portion of stone still remains.
When working on diamonds, professional diamond-cutters need to carve them in special shapes, which later need to have the ability to catch and reflect light. During that process, we can see the shining and sparkling effects of diamonds that we all love and adore.
But, in most cases, smaller diamonds suffer somewhat in this department, unlike larger precious stones that can be much more forgiving when cutting them. As such, purple diamonds were extremely difficult to handle in the early days, due to the lack of optimal tools.
Fortunately, the long waiting was rewarded, as today, we have machines that can, on their own, cut diamonds using special lasers which navigate where, when, and how to cut certain rough diamonds.
In most cases, we don’t need to worry at all, as those diamond-cutting machines are capable of working on their own. As long as there’s a professional man, capable of wielding such machines, we will have a beautifully cut purple diamond in no time!
Above all else, the necessity of being gentle to purple diamonds doesn’t stop immediately after they are cut: All diamonds, especially collared ones like purple diamonds, need to be carefully taken care of all the time. Depending on their preference, people can be divided into those that love to wear purple diamonds or those that prefer to lock them away.
Let’s start with those that aren’t worn:
Keep Them In A Safe Location
As you all know, purple diamonds are extremely valuable in today’s market – a 0.42-carat fancy purple diamond will cost you about $15.000, whereas a 0.4-carat fancy deep purple diamond is usually priced around $38.000, further influenced by the overall cut and shape. (more on that later)
With such high price tags, it’s important to remember that people will wish to possess them, in one way or the other. Stealing precious stones such as purple diamonds occur from time to time.
To prevent that from happening, we need to think ahead of time and store them somewhere where only we can access them. One of the best solutions to this problem is to form a contract with banks that own deposit safes.
With an annual tax, we can safely store our purple diamonds in one of their highly secured safes, which are protected at all times by guards, cameras, and all other crazy shenanigans that we only get to see in movies!
On the other hand, if you prefer to deal with a problem with your own two hands, then you can store your precious purple diamonds in your home. But remember, it’s imperative that you possess a portable safe, purchasable in most online stores.
A quick tip – small children and animals are extremely hazardous to precious stones, especially if they can reach them. To keep your purple diamonds out of reach, try to place the portable safe somewhere high in your bedroom.
Clean Them Regularly
Human beings should get at least one shower per day, regardless of the activities. Fortunately, diamonds don’t need to visit the bathroom every single day. But, we highly recommend that you clean them thoroughly once or twice annually.
If you own a purple diamond that isn’t embedded in a piece of jewelry, then you will most likely be capable of cleaning them on your own. If you wish to learn how to do so, we got you covered – click on the link here, and you will learn how to clean diamonds without troubling yourself too much!
On the other hand, if you own purple diamonds that are embedded in a piece of jewelry, then the best course of action is to visit a professional jeweler that provides cleaning services.
Just remember – don’t take your precious purple diamonds to a random jeweler. It’s quite easy to switch them up after they are separated from the jewel, and most malicious jewelers will decide to do that if they believe in a successful outcome.
Because of that, we recommend that you stay in touch only with a trustworthy jeweler. Before you ask them to clean your purple diamonds, you should expect that they have a busy schedule. It’s nearly impossible to clean embedded diamonds in a single day.
So, be patient and let them do their duty. Cleaning purple diamonds is imperative if you want them to retain their natural beauty and sparkling effects. Most of their shine comes from the cut grade and color intensity level. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at:
Ring Settings And Color Intensity Levels Of Purple Diamonds
When talking about purple diamonds, it’s imperative to remember that they belong in the Fancy Color Diamonds group of diamonds. As a testament to this, they can be classified depending on the depth of their natural color:
- Fancy dark
- Fancy deep
- Fancy vivid
- Fancy intense
- Fancy
- Fancy light
- Light
- Very light
- Faint
The previous list is composed of all known color variants of purple diamonds, listed from the most expensive to the least expensive. Furthermore, depending on their origin, the marketing behind them, and the region where the diamond is sold, they can be named:
- Violet diamonds
- Grape diamonds
- Plum diamonds
- Orchid diamonds
- Lavender diamonds
It’s wise to remember the previous lists, as they play an important role when deciding which setting will be the most optimal for purple diamonds. With that in mind, the three best settings for purple diamond engagement rings are as follows:
Halo Setting
By forming a halo around the purple diamonds, we can further enhance the presence and beauty of the purple stone. This setting will increase the surface area of your engagement ring, which highlights the center of your diamond.
Learn More: Halo Settings: Everything You Need to Know
Pave Setting
By lining the band with smaller stones, you can maximize the overall brilliance of the purple diamond ring with a pave setting.
Side Stone Setting
This is probably the most recognizable and favorite setting for purple diamond engagement rings, as you add smaller stones around the diamond, resulting in additional carat weight and style.
To Sum Things Up
All purple diamonds, regardless of their exact color and size, need to be taken extremely seriously. Although they can last a lifetime and more, one mistake can lead to losing the precious sparkling effects of this stone. To prevent that from happening, this article was written so that we can learn how to take excellent care of our beloved stones.
At the very least, you need to clean purple diamonds once or twice annually, regardless of whether they are embedded in a piece of jewelry or not. Keep them locked in a safe at all times whenever you don’t wish to wear them as an accessory.
Purple diamonds are extremely rare – only 0.1% of all diamonds discovered across the world have this distinct purple color, which can be further classified into one of many other types, ranging from fancy dark all the way to faint.
We hope that you have enjoyed today’s content on purple diamonds and we wish to see you around some more!
