Diamond colours
Red is the rarest diamond colour, with purple, green and orange close behind. Most diamonds are white to light yellow, and a strong colour like pink or blue is one of the rarest things in nature.
- Only about 1 in 10,000 carats of polished diamond has a fancy colour.
- Yellow and brown are the most common fancy colours. Red, green, purple and orange are the rarest.
- RXXO makes colour far more common than nature, so every colour set can be collected, and keeps purple and red the hardest to find.
Every diamond colour, rarest first
Odds in RXXO- PurpleOne of the rarest natural colours.1 in 100
- RedThe rarest of all. Scientists are still not sure what causes it. The Moussaieff Red weighs 5.11 ct.1 in 50
- BlueBoron in the crystal turns it blue. The Hope Diamond, 45.52 ct, is blue.1 in 33
- PinkThought to come from tiny defects in the crystal that soak up some light. The Pink Star, 59.60 ct, sold for $71 million in 2017.1 in 20
- BlackPacked with tiny inclusions such as graphite. The Black Orloff weighs 67.50 ct.1 in 17
- GreenNatural radiation knocks carbon atoms out of place. The Dresden Green, 41 ct, is the largest known.1 in 14
- GreyA cool, steely shade.1 in 13
- OliveA mix of green, yellow and brown.1 in 11
- OrangeOne of the rarest colours in nature, more common in RXXO.1 in 10
- BrownGrain lines from a bent crystal. With yellow, the most common fancy colour.1 in 7
- YellowNitrogen in the crystal. The more nitrogen, the deeper the yellow.1 in 7
- ColourlessThe classic white diamond, graded D to Z.1 in 5
In RXXO
In RXXO, purple is 1 in 100 and red 1 in 50. Colourless is the most common, 1 in 5.
Purple and red RXXO diamonds
Look closer
Why colour is so rare
A diamond is almost pure carbon. Colour comes from a small change: a few atoms of nitrogen or boron, a bent crystal, or radiation deep in the earth. About 1 in 10,000 polished carats has a fancy colour, and about 1 in 25,000 an intense one.
Where pinks came from
Most natural pink and red diamonds came from one mine, Argyle in Western Australia, which closed in November 2020.
RXXO and nature
With nature's odds, almost nobody would ever see a coloured diamond. So in RXXO colour is common enough to collect every set, while purple and red stay the hardest to find, as in nature.
Questions
What is the rarest diamond colour?
Red. Red, green, purple and orange are the rarest fancy colours, and researchers are still not sure what makes a diamond red. In RXXO, purple is the rarest colour, then red.
Why are some diamonds yellow?
Nitrogen. A few nitrogen atoms in the crystal make the stone look yellow, and more nitrogen gives a deeper yellow.
What makes a blue diamond blue?
Boron in the crystal. The more boron, the deeper the blue. The Hope Diamond, 45.52 carats, is the best known blue diamond.
What is a fancy colour diamond?
Any diamond with a colour outside the normal D to Z range: a yellow or brown with more colour than a Z, or a colour such as pink, blue, green or red.
What makes a green diamond green?
Natural radiation. Over time it knocks carbon atoms out of place in the crystal. The Dresden Green, 41 carats, is the largest known green diamond.
How rare are coloured diamonds?
About 1 in 10,000 carats of polished diamond has a fancy colour, and about 1 in 25,000 has an intense one.
RXXO numbers are the odds every mint draws from. Updated 8 October 2026.