Yellow diamonds have moved from rare curiosity to one of the most requested stones for engagement rings and statement jewellery. Today we're exploring exactly what a yellow diamond is, how they get their colour, how they're graded, and more. Read on to learn all you need to know about these beautiful, vibrant gemstones.
What is a yellow diamond?
Yellow diamonds get their colour from the small amount of nitrogen present in the carbon structure as the diamond forms. That nitrogen absorbs blue light, and because blue and yellow sit opposite each other on the colour wheel, that absorption creates the warm colour we see in yellow diamonds.
Left: 1.3ct emerald-cut Fancy Vivid yellow diamond, Right: 1.4ct radiant-cut, Fancy yellow diamond
This puts yellow diamonds in a category gemmologists call "fancy colour diamonds", which is any diamond outside the normal colourless-to-light-yellow range used for traditional white diamonds. It's a genuine colour variation, not a flaw or an off-colour stone. The intensity of the yellow depends on how much nitrogen is present and how it's distributed through the crystal, and this is true regardless of whether that crystal formed underground over billions of years or was grown in a lab in a matter of weeks.
Are yellow diamonds real diamonds?
Yes. A yellow diamond is 100% diamond, made of pure carbon, and crystallised in the same structure as any colourless diamond. Colour doesn't change what the stone is made of; it's simply the result of nitrogen being present during crystallisation, in exactly the way a colourless diamond forms without it.
It's also the same for lab-grown yellow diamonds. They're grown from a carbon source under controlled conditions rather than pulled from the ground. The result is a real diamond, with an identical crystal structure, identical hardness, and identical chemistry. Nothing about being lab-grown or yellow makes a diamond "less real."
What are yellow diamonds called?
A few names refer to yellow diamonds, some more relevant than others. The most popular name for a yellow diamond is a canary diamond, but this isn't a formal grading term and is usually used to refer to yellow diamonds that are brighter and more vivid in colour.
Fancy yellow diamond is the correct gemmological term for diamonds graded within the fancy colour scale (more on this below!). It will be referred to as this on a yellow diamond certificate.
An older term, which is less common nowadays, is cape diamond. This was used a lot in the South African diamond trade, historically used for pale yellow to brownish-yellow stones.
How are yellow diamonds graded?
Yellow diamonds are graded on a different scale to white diamonds. A white diamond's colour scale runs from D (colourless) to Z (light yellow). Once a diamond's colour is strong enough to be considered a feature rather than a tint, it moves onto the fancy colour scale instead.
The fancy colour scale can be seen below:
- Fancy Light
- Fancy
- Fancy Intense
- Fancy Vivid — the top of the scale, and generally the most valuable grade
Two further grades, Fancy Dark and Fancy Deep, sit alongside rather than above this sequence. They describe stones where the colour is muted by brown, grey, or black tones, and are typically valued below Vivid rather than beyond it.
Grading considers three things together: hue (the actual colour, which can lean toward orange or green), tone (how light or dark), and saturation (how strong or muted). Fancy Vivid sits at the top for strength of colour and is the most sought-after grade, as its saturation is what drives most of its value, not size.
As with white diamonds, clarity and cut are graded separately and still affect quality and price. A well-cut yellow diamond will also show its colour more evenly across the stone, which is part of why cut choice matters more with fancy colours than it does with colourless diamonds.
This same fancy colour scale is used for every colour of diamond, not just yellow — green, pink, blue, orange, and brown diamonds are all graded on the same Fancy Light to Fancy Vivid system, using the same hue, tone, and saturation criteria.
Pictured: Bespoke bezel set yellow sapphire engagement ring, featuring 1.57ct cushion cut yellow lab-diamond
Are yellow diamonds lab-grown or natural?
Both exist, and both are real diamonds. Lab-grown yellow diamonds are chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined ones. The only difference is where the crystal formed: underground over billions of years, or in a controlled lab environment over a period of weeks, using the same nitrogen-driven process that produces the colour either way.
Lab-grown diamonds are graded using the same fancy colour scale and 4 Cs. A Fancy Vivid yellow lab-grown diamond is graded and looks the same as a Fancy Vivid mined one; there's no visual or structural way to tell them apart without specialist equipment.
At Wild Fawn, every diamond (yellow, white/colourless, or otherwise) we work with is lab-grown. This is a deliberate choice because it means the stone in your ring has a traceable, verifiable origin, a far lighter environmental footprint than mining, and it makes the higher colour grades like Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid more accessible, rather than reserved for the rarest, most expensive stones on the market.
Are yellow diamonds more expensive?
It depends on the grade, and on whether the stone is lab-grown or mined. Yellow diamonds are generally less expensive than white or colourless diamonds, unless the colour is particularly intense on the grading scale. Demand for yellow diamonds has historically been lower than for colourless diamonds, though that's shifting, with yellow diamonds growing steadily in popularity in recent years. We're likely to see more coming to market, both mined and lab-grown, as a result.
Of all the fancy colours, yellow is both the most common and generally the most affordable, especially compared to rarer shades like blue, red, and green, with red being the rarest and most valuable fancy colour of all.
The relationship between colour and price also runs opposite to white diamonds. With a colourless diamond, less visible colour means more value. With a yellow diamond, it's the saturation and intensity of its colour that drives value up, right through to Fancy Vivid at the top of the scale.
With mined stones, Fancy Vivid and Fancy Intense yellows carry a steep premium, because natural fancy colour diamonds of any size are genuinely rare. Lab-grown yellow diamonds follow the same pattern, where stones with a stronger, more even colour cost more than paler stones. The difference here is lab-grown yellow diamonds aren't affected by the extreme scarcity pricing of mined fancy colours, which is what makes a Fancy Vivid lab-grown yellow diamond realistic for an engagement ring in a way a mined equivalent often isn't.
Yellow diamonds vs yellow sapphires
Both are genuine warm-toned gemstones, and both work beautifully in fine jewellery and engagement rings. Read to learn how they're similar and different below.
Left: radiant-cut yellow diamond, Right: oval yellow sapphire
Hardness: Diamond sits at 10 on the Mohs scale, being the hardest natural material there is, while sapphire is a 9. Both are more than hard enough for daily wear, though diamond will resist scratching from other hard surfaces ever so slightly better over decades of everyday use.
Price: Yellow sapphires are generally more affordable than a mined/natural yellow diamond of comparable size and colour strength. A lab-grown yellow diamond narrows that gap considerably, so the choice comes down more to look and material than budget alone.
Treatment: Most yellow sapphires on the market are heat-treated to improve or set their colour. This is a standard, accepted, and stable practice in the trade. Our lab-grown yellow diamonds get their colour purely from nitrogen during growth, with no post-growth colour treatment.
Look: Diamonds have a higher refractive index and dispersion, giving them more 'fire' and sparkle. Sapphires often have a slightly softer, more saturated glow rather than a sparkle-heavy finish, and some people prefer this for a warmer, less flashy look.
Neither is the "better" stone, and the choice you make comes down to personal preference, budget, and whether you want maximum brilliance or a deeper, richer colour.
Ready to explore yellow diamonds?
If you have some yellow diamond jewellery or a yellow diamond engagement ring on your wishlist, we invite you to book a private appointment with us. Chat to us either virtually or in person at our South-East London workshop; we can't wait to bring your vision to life.
Choosing Wild Fawn Jewellery for your yellow diamond jewellery is a conscious, sustainable choice; we only ever use lab-grown diamonds, 100% recycled solid gold or platinum and each piece is made from start to finish in the UK using ethical practices.
