Colorful Diamonds - Not For Individuals Looking for Champagne on a Beer Budget

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Celebrities have made yellow and pink diamond engagement rings extremely popular in recent years.
While most cannot afford to buy these gems, there are beautiful alternatives that can be had for less than 3 months salary. Only a small number of pink diamonds are found each year, making them both extremely rare and highly sought after.
Due to the supply/demand factor, they are often extremely costly and can easily run over $10,000 and typically much much more. Natural pink diamonds are light in color with just a hint of pink.
Most of the world's pink diamonds are found in Australia. An appealing alternative to pink diamonds are pink sapphires, which are less expensive ($500 and up), come in a wider variety of shapes and sizes, and have both light and deep shades of pink.
Pink sapphires receive their color from small amounts of chromium. They are a hard gemstone and are therefore suitable for everyday wear.
Pink tourmalines are another alternative to pink diamonds. For those who fall into the "want champagne on a beer budget category," you can always combine small pink diamonds with more affordable gemstones.
Also, colorless diamonds can undergo treatment to develop a pink hue at a more affordable price. One of the most famous canary yellow engagement rings was worn by Paris Hilton.
The emerald cut ring weighed in at a hefty 24 carats. Regular couples today are also selecting canary yellow stones for their engagement rings.
While diamonds with a slight yellowish hue are not considered desirable, those with a natural intense yellow color are actually becoming quite valuable. Only 1 in 1,000 diamonds are classified as canary yellow.
The yellow color is believed to be due to the presence of nitrogen atoms when the diamond is formed. Diamonds can also undergo a process called irridiation or high pressure/high temperature treaments in order to give them a yellow hue.
Yellow diamonds are more expensive than their white counterparts, and the intensity of the color factors into this. If couples can't afford a natural yellow diamond as a center-stone, as with pink diamonds, there are always alternatives.
Smaller yellow diamonds can be used as sidestones or natural yellow gemstones such as yellow sapphires or citrine can be used instead. Article Tags: Beer Budget, Engagement Rings, Pink Diamonds, Canary Yellow Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com The author recently celebrated her first wedding anniversary and is sporting an ascher cut diamond ring.
She and her husband put together: http://www.ultimate-engagement-ring-guide.com to help you select the perfect engagement ring..