Purple diamonds with no secondary hues are very rare. Most of these diamonds are less than a carat in size and are very seldom found in dark to vivid lilac colours. So far there have been no larger purple or violet diamonds found which are of historical significance. Most of the purple diamonds exhibit needle like colour zones.

Common names for purple diamonds included orchid, plum, lilac, mauve, lavender, grape, amethyst etc.

Purple diamonds got unprecedented attention after basketball superstar Kobe Bryant gave his wife an 8-carat purple diamond costing $4 million as an atonement gift shortly after being charged with sexual assault. In the diamond world there are still questions about the reality of there being an 8-carat natural purple diamond when any size stone with this colour is extremely rare. Hopefully it will be put on display in a museum some day so more diamond lovers can get a glimpse of this one of a kind gem.

The purple diamond rough is only mined in Australia.

Unusually high amount of Hydrogen is known to cause purple colour in some diamonds. These diamonds usually do not conduct electricity.

Secondary hues and colour modifiers include pink, gray, brown, red etc.

Purple diamonds of enhanced colours are very rare as well. Some of the diamonds change their colours to purple during the process of turning them canary. Compared to the natural purples, the enhanced ones have higher saturation of colour. Orange fluorescence is another identifying characteristic of enhanced colour