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W hile many diamonds appear colorless, or white, they actually may have subtle hues of yellow, brown or gray that can be seen only when compared side by side. Diamonds are formed of carbon atoms under intense heat and pressure, and traces of other elements in the atomic structure account for variances in color. For example, the presence of nitrogen results in yellow and boron results in blue/gray.Color grades start at truly colorless with the letter "D" and continue through the alphabet to letter "Z." The closer a diamond is to colorless, the rarer and more valuable it is. Although the presence of color makes a diamond relatively more common and less valuable, some diamonds come out of the ground in vivid "fancy" colors: well-defined reds, blues, pinks, greens, and bright yellows. These are highly prized and extremely rare, and are not graded under the same "D-to-Z" scale.
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