Synthetic Blue Diamond

Button to see available blue diamonds
D.NEA primarily offers blue diamonds from fancy light blue to fancy intense blue and up to 1.50 carats.

Images of different blue colors

Origin of Blue Color

Chart showing blue tone and saturation
The tone and saturation
of color gives our diamonds
their natural beauty
and range of color.
Periodic element tile for boron Diamonds are made of carbon, but receive their color from natural impurities inside the diamond. Nearly all diamonds–mined and grown alike–have some impurities. The blue color comes from boron trapped in the diamond lattice. This creates a blue 'color center', which absorbs all visible light except for blue. The blue color is reflected back and gives the diamond its color.

The more boron in the diamond, the more saturated the blue color. By controlling the amount of boron entering the lattice, scientists are able to control the ultimate color, within one or two color grades.

The boron present in all blue diamonds, both natural and lab grown, causes them to be electrically conductive.

Growth Duration

The boron assists the speed of crystal growth. One machine cycle for a blue diamond typically runs for seven to ten days and will create one rough that could be cut into a half to one carat diamond.

Price

Chart comparing prices of mined and lab-grown blue diamonds
Lab-grown blue diamonds
cost about 1/10th the price
of their mined counterparts.
Though the price varies based on the specific color, carat, clarity, shape and other criteria, in general a one carat blue is in the $8,000 to $15,000 range.

Mined blue diamonds are quite rare and can sell between $200,000 and $500,000 for a one carat.

Mined blues are usually the most expensive in the vivid colors, while lab grown blues are most expensive for a fancy blue and is based on the difficulty to grow or find these saturation levels.

Shape

Rough blue diamonds
Blue diamonds straight from the growth units.
Rough blue diamonds grow in a hexa-cubic shape. This rough shape has the highest yield when cut into round shapes. It also produces good yield for cut-corner square shapes such as radiant, asscher, emerald and cushion. Due to the corners on a princess cut, yields for this shape are lower by around 25%. Elongated shapes such as marquise and pear typically have low yields since the size is determined by the longest dimension of the squarish rough. For this reason, elongated shapes are not normally made.

Clarity

Example of an SI1 clarity blue diamond
Any diamond with VS or higher clarity requires magnification to see any inclusions. The blue color makes SI clarity very difficult to see without magnification, when the same inclusion in a white diamond may have been more easily detected. Though clarity is different with each diamond and based on personal preference, an SI clarity blue is usually a very safe clarity to have. If you have any questions about clarity for a specific diamond, please contact us.

Type

All synthetic blue diamonds are type IIb.


Additional Information:

[ Color | Shape | Carat | Cut | Clarity | Certification ]