Note: Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French merchant and adventurer who was best known for acquiring the 'Tavernier Blue Diamond' that he subsequently sold to Louis XIV, first made a reference to pink diamonds in the early 17th century. Tavernier mentioned a very large pink rough diamond weighing over 200 carats, shown to him by Moghuls in the Kingdom of Golconda in 1642. This diamond named ‘The Grand Table’ and valued at 600,000 rupees at the time, is still the largest pink diamond recorded to date. The French merchant also purchased two pale pink diamonds around 1668 and drew the pictures of the stones in his travel book.

Since the 17th century, the value of coloured diamonds has considerably increased. Fancy coloured diamonds are rarer than near colourless diamonds as their hues come from a disturbance during the formation process of the stone deep in the earth. For all coloured diamonds except pinks, the colour comes from trace elements that interfere during the formation of the crystal. A diamond is composed of pure carbon; it is the intrusion of another atom that causes the colour: nitrogen for yellows, boron for blues. Concerning the pink diamonds, the colour is a consequence of a distortion of the crystal structure of the stone.

Since the 17th century, the value of coloured diamonds has considerably increased. Fancy coloured diamonds are rarer than near colourless diamonds as their hues come from a disturbance during the formation process of the stone deep in the earth. For all coloured diamonds except pinks, the colour comes from trace elements that interfere during the formation of the crystal. A diamond is composed of pure carbon; it is the intrusion of another atom that causes the colour: nitrogen for yellows, boron for blues. Concerning the pink diamonds, the colour is a consequence of a distortion of the crystal structure of the stone.