Fancy Purple Diamonds: Your Detailed Buying Guide

James Allen carries over 30 loose natural fancy purple diamonds of various carats and diamond shapes. Majority of their purple diamonds range between pinkish purple hues and fancy deep purple diamonds. They usually have the most best prices for colored diamonds and colorless diamonds too.

They've taken on a bit more flack when they were bought out by Sterling Jewelers, the same people that bring you overpriced engagement rings at Kay, Jared, and Zales. However, the sales structure remains the same. James Allen still hold some of the lowest prices in diamonds, both fancy color diamonds and colorless ones alike.

One thing I will always rant and rave about with James Allen is that all of their diamonds have interactive 360˚ video. They are also the only guys who have it on all of their purple diamonds. You can sort them between fancy light, fancy, fancy intense, or fancy deep.

They are also the holder of the best lifetime warranty. One of the reasons it's the best is because it's free. The other is because it covers all the metalwork for your purple diamond engagement ring.

2. Leibish & Co.

If you're a collector of the finer things, or you simply have the budget for a high quality purple diamond, Leibish is the way to go. They also carry the fabled violet diamonds. These guys specialize in the most stunning and high quality fancy purple diamonds and all other fancy color diamonds. Their purple diamonds may cost more on average, but they are worth it if you want a purple diamond for your engagement ring.

I definitely recommend going to Leibish for natural fancy purple diamonds or violet diamonds. But if I were you, I'd skip their settings. They let you purchase the certified loose diamond without obligation to purchase any of their expensive settings.

Plus, they don't offer any kind of lifetime warranty with their settings and they're pretty expensive. After spending that cash on a fancy intense pink purple diamond, you probably don't want to spend too much on its ring setting!

3. Blue Nile

Blue Nile is the oldest and most trusted name in online diamonds. They have always had 24/7 service and availability for their customers. Unlike the other two above retailers, Blue Nile doesn't have many purple diamonds with 360˚ view. However, don't be too shocked because majority of in-store and online diamond retailers don't have purple diamonds in their inventory.

Also, let's be honest. Purple diamond rings are going to cost a LOT of money. Chances are, most retailers that sell them want you to be seriously interested. Natural fancy purple diamonds are rare, so it makes sense. But if you inquire within, Blue Nile will be happy to assist you.

Read also: Buying Lab Created Pink Diamonds

People love Blue Nile even though they don't always have the cheapest price. Sometimes it's not about about that. Blue Nile makes everyone feel like family, and have always provided 24/7 availability to their customers. They were first on the scene when online diamonds became a thing and have built up their customer base for years. They are trusted and revered, and nobody bought them out.

Now, they don't have a great warranty. Their purple diamond rings only come with a manufacturer's warranty that covers defects, but not routine maintenance. You'll have to get that out of pocket.

What is a Fancy Purple Diamond?

A purple diamond is one of the many fancy color diamonds available both within the earth and manmade. Only a very small percentage of fancy color diamonds are purple, and even less are violet diamonds.

A pure purple diamond is extremely rare. Majority of purple diamonds are found with a purple pink hue. Purple diamonds may also have a reddish purple hue with a gray secondary tone.

Purple diamonds are very rare and come at a high asking price, even for low carat weight. Unlike other colors on the fancy color scale, purple diamonds don't have as many descriptors.

Hues of Purple Diamonds

You'll find purple diamonds come with nicknames based on their hue or shades. Purple diamonds may be called lavender diamonds, purple orchid diamonds, plum diamonds, mauve diamonds, or violet diamonds.

Here's the different shades of purple diamonds:

Light Purple

Fancy Light Purple

Fancy Purple

Fancy Intense Purple

Fancy Deep Purple

Violet Diamonds

Purple diamonds with a strong blue secondary hue are called violet diamonds. These are more rare than traditional purple diamonds. The bluish hue in a violet diamond is caused by boron, the same impurity that creates fancy blue diamonds.

Violet Diamonds are very rare, so their descriptors are even more limited than traditional purple diamonds.

How Does a Purple Diamond Get its Color?

Fancy color diamonds may get their color intensity levels from impurities entering the diamond crystal as its growing or to a defect in the crystal lattice that alters our perception of color.

Natural fancy purple diamonds get their colors from impurities entering the crystal

Natural Purple Diamonds

Purple diamonds that are mined from the earth's mantle are one of the rarest color diamonds. The deeper the color intensity of purple colored natural diamonds, the longer hydrogen stayed in the crystal as it grew.

Lab-Grown Purple Diamonds

Lab grown purple diamonds are also called enhanced purple diamonds. Natural fancy purple diamonds have a distinct purple shade that can't be replicated. Enhanced purple diamonds can also be detected easily, unlike colorless lab diamonds. Enhanced purple diamonds also fluoresce orange under UV light. If you see a cheap purple diamond, it's enhanced, no doubt about it.

Famous Purple Diamonds

Because of how rare they are, there aren't many famous purple diamonds in the world.

The Royal Purple Heart Diamond

However, Royal Purple Heart Diamond is the most well known. The Royal purple heart was grades as Fancy vivid purple, weighing 7.34 carats and an I1 clarity grade. It is the largest fancy purple diamond in existence currently.

It was mined in Russia, and polished by the Julius Klein Diamond Corporation. It's technically a heart brilliant cut, but it's hard to see the defined edges that make it a heart.

The Supreme Purple Star

This is the only other famous purple diamond and not much is known about it. Not even its carat weight. But here's what we do know.

Gemologists estimate the Supreme Purple Star Diamond to between 2-5 carats. The earliest bit of information gathered about the mysterious purple stone was in 2002. No one knows who the seller was but he didn't know he had a purple diamond.

He actually thought it was another stone. It isn't surprising though because this purple diamond also shows a rare deep red secondary colors. At some angles, the round brilliant cut diamond would appear purple and others, it would appear red. Scientists can't explain how this color changing purple diamond exists, but it is the only stone like this out of colored diamonds.

Purple Diamond FAQs

Where Are Fancy Purple Diamonds Found?

The rare fancy purple diamond is mined in just a few different places. Very few purple diamonds are found a year, but most come from Africa. These purple stones have also been discovered in Russia, Canada, and the famous Argyle mine in western Australia.

The most recent purple diamond discovery was in Canada. A new diamond resource was found in 2008 in Quebec. Nine purple stones were mined from this diamond mine.

Are Purple Diamonds Expensive?

Pure purple diamonds are virtually non-existent, and even less than 1 carat pinkish purple diamonds cost tens of thousands of dollars. Fancy purple diamonds are some of the most rare and expensive fancy color diamonds in the diamond industry,

Conclusion: Buying Natural Purple Diamonds

Fancy purple diamonds are expensive and rare gems in the land of diamond jewelry. So naturally, they make gorgeous diamond engagement rings too. But due to their rarity, they can be difficult to find.

If you're looking to buy natural fancy color diamonds, look no further than these three online retailers: James Allen, Leibish & Co, and Blue Nile. All three of these diamond retailers can provide the perfect fancy purple diamond engagement ring to buy, or dream about buying.