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What are lime green diamonds?
Lime green diamonds refer to diamonds that are the color of the skin of a lime, quietly vivid and dark green. Or they can be the color of the inside fruit of a lime — that translucent citrus green. This article shows you the truly stunning prices, as well as beautiful alternatives.
Technically speaking, in terms of the diamond selling industry, lime green diamonds are in the class of Fancy Green Diamonds called:
- Fancy Intense Green Diamonds and
- Fancy Vivid Green Diamonds
They would be roughly in the number 5 to number 6 diamonds in the chart below.
Live inventory of lime green diamonds
I’ve linked you here to all the Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid green diamonds, or what can be popularly called Lime Green diamonds, at James Allen.
It’s a dynamically updated inventory.
You can sort it by price to find lime green diamonds that you can afford.
What does a lime green diamond symbolize?
Lime is the color, in this case, of good times, of celebration. The color of margaritas and the ocean. The color of a clear green citron vert squeezed into a sparkling glass of Perrier.
Are lime green diamonds real diamonds?
They absolutely are real diamonds.
The short answer is this:
A very few diamonds come out of the earth naturally colored lime green. Very very few diamonds. But fortunately, scientists can create any shade of green in a diamond by aiming electron beams at it in a lab.
This electron beam treatment turns a diamond permanently green. The intensity of the green is determined by the intensity and duration of the electron beam treatment.
Lime green diamonds created by this process are 100% real diamonds. Admittedly, they’re not 100% purely natural. But they will last … forever. And they will be forever lime green.
For a longer, in-depth answer
For a longer, in-depth answer, see my article on green diamonds in general.
How rare is a lime green diamond?
Exceedingly rare. Counting even lab-created green diamonds which are of the colors Fancy Intense Green and Fancy Vivid Green, the numbers are very very low. Certainly less than 4 in 10,000 diamonds. That’s a conservatively high estimate. It’s probably way less.
Why?
Because fewer than 7 in 10,000 diamonds are green at all.
Are lime green diamonds valuable?
In a word, yes. (But diamonds are never a good investment. They won’t go up in value. They will drop in value, dramatically, the moment they’re purchased at retail prices.)
Diamonds are expensive in a retail environment.
And even on secondhand markets, they aren’t cheap. Retail prices of diamonds, including green diamonds, are going to always exceed the price on the secondhand markets. But the difference may be less pronounced when it comes to diamonds as rare as green diamonds.
The reason why is pretty easy to see. When the supply of anything is as small as the supply of lime green diamonds, then the seller has a huge advantage. They can wait until someone comes along who can and will pay the high price asked.
How much is a 1-carat lime green diamond?
It depends on the price, but these diamonds are quite expensive in general. It’s not easy to find a 1-carat lime green diamond for less than $60,000. Yes, sixty thousand. Not a typo.
Some much smaller green diamonds DO exist for under $2,000, however.
Alternatives to lime green diamonds
The price of lime green diamonds puts them out of reach of most of us, unless we are willing to settle for 0.25-carats or so for around $2,000.
The main alternative to a lime green diamond, especially for an engagement ring, would be a lime green emerald gemstone engagement ring.
Emeralds are a lot more relaxing to shop for then are diamonds.
They don’t have strict and intimidating grading scores. They also don’t have the eye-watering price tags of green diamonds.
To find lime green emeralds, you simply go to an online jeweler (I refer you to James Allen since they are eminently trustworthy, have the best imaging and best prices, and also since I’m an affiliate.)
At James Allen or any online jeweler, you then go to the emeralds page and scroll down, looking for the celebratory, good-times, margarita or vivid citron vert shades of green which you call lime green.
What makes the price of emeralds even better when compared to green diamonds
The rings and prices pictured below include both the gemstones and the settings. That is, you’re not buying the gemstone alone for $1,910. You’re getting the 1.78-carat emerald and the White Gold pave ring. (It has 0.32 carats of diamonds in it as well!)
What if you wanted to price, for example, a 1.49-carat emerald by itself?
Obviously you’ll want a ring too. Not just the gemstone. But to compare emerald gemstone to diamond gemstone makes for an interesting comparison when shopping. This 1.49-carat emerald gemstone alone is only $740. That’s a huge savings over even a white diamond. And a gargantuan savings over a green diamond, which would probably cost close to $100,000 at that size.
Another excellent alternative to lime green diamonds: green sapphires
Sapphires are another excellent alternative to lime green diamonds. To find one that is your choice of lime green, simply to go any online jeweler and look at their inventory of green sapphires.
I’ve linked you directly to James Allen’s inventory of green sapphires here.
Scroll through them, looking for the lime green shade and intensity that you desire. (There doesn’t exist a way to sort for that at any jeweler. But it’s fairly easy to scroll through the entire inventory by hand, noting the ones that fit what you want.)
I’ve pointed a couple of interesting examples that deserve more follow up.
Conclusion
Lime green 1-carat diamonds can be simply out of reach, economically, for many people. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for the same old white diamonds everyone buys, if you prefer all the associations and symbolism of a lime colored gemstone.
Emeralds and Sapphires are both quality alternatives to green diamonds of any kind.
