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Because of price and rarity, colored diamonds have always been an elite product. Suddenly, however, they are going mainstream, appearing in hundreds of independent jewelry stores as a new means of differentiation from their discount and chain competition. Several factors are contributing to the trend.
First: Indian and Israeli diamond cutters are producing many small yellow, pink and brown diamonds suitable for use in pave, cluster and other multiple-stone settings that use melee. Jewellry manufacturers are sprinkling pieces with little accents of color - enough to give their designs a touch of class but still keep them affordable.
Second: Inexpensive but attractive diamonds colored by both irradiation and what is called HPHT (high pressure and high temperature) are starting to appear in great numbers. Costing a fraction of their ultra-rare natural-color counterparts, these treated stones allow consumers to own pink, blue and green diamonds that they could not otherwise find, let alone afford.
Third: The diamond market is imitating the cultured pearl market. A decade ago, jewelers stocked mostly Japanese white pearls. Then when Tahiti started producing black pearls in affordable profusion and China flooded the world market with lovely freshwater pink pearls, jewelers discovered a rainbow of colored pearls. Once colored pearls soared in popularity, it was only a matter oftime before colored diamonds did the same. That time is now.
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