The Luxury Network International Magazine Issue 22

If any stone can capture joy,
the yellow diamond wins
hands down. On the drabbest
of days, the golden light
from a perfect yellow radiates
wellbeing like the warmth of a
hazy summer afternoon. Could
a yellow diamond be a contradiction
of world order, a shard
of sunlight captured forever in
a virtually indestructible mineral
born in the mysterious
depths of our planet?
Science tells us otherwise, and
it is nitrogen, the rather less romantic
element, that billions of
years ago differentiated a colourless
diamond from its daffodil-bright
sibling.
The yellow is the only coloured
diamond whose grading begins
on the lower end of the GIA
D-Z grading scale and continues
into the ‘Fancy’ hues,
giving yellows the widest and
most fascinating range of variants.
The most prized are the four Fancy
grades, from Fancy Light to topof-the-range
Fancy Vivid, with its
perfect equilibrium of colour and
saturation.
Until the discovery of diamonds
in South Africa in the
second half of the 19th century,
few yellow diamonds had
been found. Those from existing
sources in India and Brazil
were considered natural wonders
worthy of curiosity cabinets
and royal collections.
But today, yellow diamonds are
one of the most sought-after
gems, and that is in no small
part thanks to four decades of
work by Laurence Graff, who
was one of the first to shine
the spotlight on Fancy yellow
diamonds at a time when only
white would do.
Laurence Graff recalls the
moment in New York, in the
1970s, when a diamond cutter
showed him a 31 carat yellow
diamond. He was taken aback
by how the radiant cut maximised
its colour. Following his
heart, he bought the stone, and
from that moment on it could
be said he had contracted an
enduring case of yellow fever.
It wasn’t long before he acquired
and recut his first headline-grabbing
yellow, the 47.39
carat Star of Bombay, followed
since by almost two dozen
more outstanding yellow diamonds
that are among the finest
of their kind in the world.
“Today, yellow diamonds are
one of the most sought-after
gems, and that is in no small
part thanks to four decades of
work by Laurence Graff.”
Ever the innovator, ground-breaking
techniques were developed
by Graff to find new cuts that
would best enhance the colour
of a diamond. Today, discerning
connoisseurs know that if they
are looking for an exquisite yellow
diamond, they will find it in
Graff’s peerless collection.
At 118.08 carats, the Delaire
Sunrise remains one of the
most famous stones cut by
Graff and the largest Fancy
Vivid Yellow square emerald
cut diamond in the world.
Beyond the perfect Fancy Vivid
there is a growing interest
in more unusual hues, from
Brownish Yellow to Fancy Deep
Orange Yellow. But, whichever
you choose, the sun will never
set on a yellow diamond’s ability
to spread its brilliant and joyful
glow.
ALAN HART
— The Scientist —
Gemmologist and CEO of
GEM-A
As the former Head of the
Earth Sciences Collection at
the Natural History Museum in
London, and now CEO of the
Gemmological Association of
Great Britain, I see diamonds
from a scientist’s perspective.
But yellow diamonds hold a
very special appeal.
At the British Museum there
are drawers and drawers
of white diamonds, but it is
coloured diamonds that attract
your attention. You just don’t
see them that often, as only
one in every 10,000 diamonds
discovered displays colour.
While colourless diamonds are
almost uniform, I am fascinated
by the cause of the colour
in diamonds, as each one has a
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