Solitaire rings · By stone
Fancy colour diamond solitaire rings
A fancy colour diamond is a diamond whose colour is the point rather than the flaw. Yellow from nitrogen, blue from boron, pink from a twist in the crystal, green from radiation, champagne and cognac from the same nitrogen in different amounts. In a solitaire, where there is one stone and nothing else, a fancy colour is the most personal choice there is. This page covers the colours, what natural and lab-grown each mean for them, and how they are graded.
Quoted on the stone · No list price · Last updated 2026-10-05
The colours, and what each one asks
Fancy colours are graded on their own scale, from Faint through Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid, with Fancy Deep and Fancy Dark for the darker tones. The grade describes how saturated the colour is, and saturation is most of the price. A Fancy Vivid is worth many times a Fancy Light of the same weight. The cut is different too: fancy colours are cut to hold colour rather than to return white light, which is why radiant and cushion are so common and round brilliant is rare.
- Yellow
- The most available natural fancy colour, from canary to deep gold, and grown with the same range. Yellow gold deepens it; a white metal makes it read lighter.
- Pink
- Natural pink is among the rarest diamonds on earth. Lab-grown pink, from blush to Fancy Intense, is affordable and even in colour, and is what most pink solitaires here are.
- Blue
- Natural blue is rarer still. Grown blue, steel to Fancy Vivid, is sourced on request and is striking in platinum.
- Green and teal
- Natural green is rare and often only skin deep. Grown green and teal are saturated through the stone and are chosen for rings meant to be noticed.
- Champagne and cognac
- Warm natural browns, affordable for the size, suited to rose and yellow gold. The fancy colour that has come back most in the last few years.
- Salt and pepper
- Grey natural diamonds full of black and white inclusions, every one different, usually cut as a rose cut or cushion. Not graded for clarity, because the inclusions are the point.
Natural or lab-grown for a fancy colour
For yellow, champagne, cognac and salt and pepper, natural is affordable and is what we usually source: the colours are common enough in the earth that the price is reasonable, and the origin is part of the appeal. These come IGI certified.
For pink, blue and vivid green, lab-grown is the honest route for almost every budget. A natural Fancy Intense pink of one carat is priced like a house; a grown one of the same grade is priced like a ring. The colour in a grown stone is also more even, because it is controlled rather than found. These come GIA certified, with the report stating lab-grown and the colour grade. We tell you which is which, always.
Carat and setting for a coloured stone
Fancy colours read smaller than white diamonds of the same weight, because they are cut deeper to hold colour. A one carat fancy yellow radiant is around 6 by 5 millimetres. The table gives the usual sizes for white stones; expect a fancy colour to sit a little under them.
The setting changes the colour. Yellow gold under a yellow diamond deepens it, which is why the trade sets fancy yellows in yellow claws even on a platinum band. Rose gold warms a pink. Platinum keeps a blue cool and clear. A halo of small white diamonds makes any fancy colour read more saturated by contrast; a plain solitaire setting lets it read as itself. We draw both for you to see.
| Carat | Round | Oval | Cushion | Emerald | Pear |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.50 ct | 5.1 | 6.0 x 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.5 x 3.5 | 7.0 x 4.5 |
| 0.75 ct | 5.8 | 7.0 x 5.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 x 4.5 | 7.5 x 5.0 |
| 1.00 ct | 6.5 | 7.7 x 5.7 | 5.5 | 7.0 x 5.0 | 8.5 x 5.5 |
| 1.50 ct | 7.4 | 8.5 x 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.5 x 5.5 | 9.5 x 6.5 |
| 2.00 ct | 8.2 | 9.5 x 7.0 | 7.0 | 8.5 x 6.5 | 10.5 x 7.0 |
| 2.50 ct | 8.8 | 10.0 x 7.5 | 7.5 | 9.0 x 7.0 | 11.0 x 7.5 |
| 3.00 ct | 9.4 | 11.0 x 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.5 x 7.5 | 12.0 x 8.0 |
| 4.00 ct | 10.4 | 12.0 x 9.0 | 9.0 | 10.5 x 8.0 | 13.0 x 9.0 |
| 5.00 ct | 11.0 | 13.0 x 9.5 | 9.5 | 11.5 x 8.5 | 14.0 x 9.5 |
How a ring is made here
The process is the same for every ring. We talk, by video or in person in Bengaluru. We source the stone for you and send its certificate. A designer draws the ring and you approve the renders before any metal is poured. The makers we work with cut and set it in 18k gold or 950 platinum. You see photographs of the finished ring before it ships, insured and tracked, with an insurance valuation in the box.
Every stone comes with its certificate: GIA for lab-grown diamonds, IGI for natural diamonds and GRA for moissanite. The report number is yours to look up on the lab's own site before the ring is made.
Questions people ask
Are fancy colour diamonds real diamonds?
Yes. They are diamonds with a trace element or a structural quirk that gives them colour. Natural ones are mined and IGI certified; lab-grown ones are GIA certified with the colour grade on the report. Both are 10 on the Mohs scale.
Which fancy colour is the most affordable?
Natural yellow, champagne and salt and pepper. Pink and blue are affordable only lab-grown, where they cost a fraction of the natural equivalent. We quote on the actual stone and show it on video in daylight.
Can I have a pink diamond solitaire?
Yes. Almost all the pink solitaires we make are lab-grown, from blush to Fancy Intense, GIA graded. A natural pink can be sourced if the budget allows, and we will say plainly what that budget is.
How are fancy colours graded?
Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, with Fancy Deep and Fancy Dark for darker tones. The grade is on the certificate alongside the carat weight. Saturation drives the price more than clarity does.
Which metal suits a coloured diamond?
Yellow gold deepens a yellow or champagne stone. Rose gold warms a pink. Platinum keeps blue and green cool and clear. Salt and pepper suits every metal and is most often set in yellow gold.
Start with the colour
Tell us the colour, the size and the budget and we will send real certified stones to compare on video in daylight, natural or lab-grown as fits, each with a quote. Nothing is made until you approve the renders.