Yellow Diamond History
In the late 1800s, a large yellow diamond vein was found in South Africa's Cape Province. The diamonds discovered in this unique discovery were predominately light yellow in color. These diamonds quickly became known as "Cape" diamonds, named after their geographical origin. At the time, yellow Cape diamonds were unusual and unique from more common colorless stones found in India and Brazil.
Today, yellow diamonds are more common than they were back in the late 1800s. However, only one diamond in every ten thousand diamonds is a color diamond. One of the colors growing in interest among consumers is yellows. All light-yellow diamonds are called Cape diamonds regardless of their origin.
Gemological laboratories often refer to intense or vivid yellow diamonds as "Canary" yellow. Canary yellow diamonds are very rare when compared to more common "Cape" diamonds. Canary diamonds contain much more nitrogen, but their color is more of a gold color.