Most diamonds look colorless, but there are many subtle shade differences and the closer a diamond is to having no color the more valuable it becomes. A diamond is the only gemstone in which the absence of color makes it more valuable.

Why does the color vary? Due to the extremes of nature that first created diamonds, traces of elements such as nitrogen and boron could have been incorporated into the diamond's atomic structure.

It is these traces that give a diamond its color - or lack of it. Diamonds with no hint of color at all are very rare. Most gem quality diamonds, seen on their own, may well appear to be colorless. But usually they do have at least a hint of color - this is normally yellow or brown due to traces of nitrogen.