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Salt and Pepper

What is a Salt and Pepper Diamond?

Salt and pepper diamonds achieve their unique look due to the natural occurrence of inclusions in their crystal structure. Inclusions play an important role in all diamonds. For salt and pepper diamonds, there isn’t one single inclusion that is responsible for their unique look. Instead, a myriad of different types of inclusions can be present, creating a countless variety of looks in a salt and pepper diamond.

Depending on these inclusions, salt and pepper diamonds will vary quite a bit from one to the other. Spanning the spectrum, they can be close to black, dark or light gray, milky, and even almost colorless. In some instances, they can even have green, yellow, orange, or red hues. But to be a salt and pepper diamond, inclusions must be a key, prominent feature.

The cut of a galaxy diamond is the other unique aspect. Gem cutters most often cut salt and pepper diamonds in a rose cut, which has a flat bottom, since retention of carat weight is not usually a concern. For galaxy diamonds, they are cut exactly like a traditional diamond, so the stone has a culet, the term for the bottom part of the diamond where the facets come together in a point. This type of culet allows for less light to escape, enhancing the diamond’s brilliance.

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Salt & Pepper Colour Chart

Since all diamonds are made from carbon, the black spots are pieces of carbon that didn’t fully crystallize during the diamond’s formation.

Salt n pepper diamonds just have more of them! Because Mother Nature is so unpredicable, some diamonds have a light speckling, and others have A LOT! Take the beauty mark diamonds for example, they tend to have a larger than average carbon spot surrounded by smaller inclusions.

Others have an equal amount of white and black inclusions giving a more blanket grey hue, and we especially love the ones with mostly white inclusions that look like ice!

Are Diamonds for Salt and Pepper Expensive?

Salt and pepper diamonds are the complete opposite of coloured diamonds, which are frequently more valuable than colourless diamonds. These stones are much less expensive because they are not “perfect.”

Salt and pepper diamonds are often cheaper than white diamonds. This is news for couples who are on a budget. A diamond with no flaws is really rare.. Salt and pepper diamonds are still really valuable because they are hard to find. Every diamond is strong and special, in its way no matter what it looks like. Salt and pepper diamonds are unique. That is what makes them so great. Every salt and pepper diamond is durable and one of a kind.

They are therefore far less expensive than colourless diamonds, and their flaws are what make them unique, although they are less valuable stones in the diamond market. Here, Carat and Cut Still Play an Important Role.

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Rarity And Hardness

Compared to regular diamonds, salt and pepper diamonds are more prevalent overall. This has always been the case! However, before they were welcomed into the jewellery market, these jewels would have been abandoned, or ground down into dust to be utilised in industrial processes.

Any diamond is still relatively rare, yet, as 28 tonnes of diamond is mined each year, it is one of the more frequent precious gemstones.

Salt and pepper diamonds share the top-spot on the MOHS Scale with their white diamond sibling, getting a magnificent 10/10. However, due to the imperfections that make them so unique, this also implies that salt and pepper diamonds can break!

Similar to emeralds, these stones can be brittle, so although anything other than another diamond is unlikely to harm them, a severe knock could shatter or split your stone.

The Mohs mineral hardness scale is a tool used to gauge how resistant different minerals are to scratches. It assigns a relative hardness value to minerals based on their ability to scratch or be scratched by other minerals. The hardest number is 10 (diamond).

Frequently Asked Questions

A salt and pepper diamond is a natural diamond that contains a high number of inclusions—tiny bits of carbon (the “pepper”) and white feathery marks (the “salt”). Instead of being hidden, these inclusions are celebrated, giving the stone a speckled, galaxy-like appearance that ranges from icy white to dark charcoal.

Yes, 100%. They are natural diamonds formed deep within the earth over billions of years. The only difference is that they haven’t been “cleaned up” through heavy processing; they are kept in their raw, organic state to showcase their natural character.

Generally, yes. Because traditional diamond markets value “perfection” and clarity, these included stones are more accessible. This allows you to get a much larger, more striking stone for a fraction of the price of a traditional colorless diamond of the same carat weight.
Salt and pepper diamonds have a different kind of beauty. While they don’t have the same “white brilliance” as a clear diamond, they offer a mysterious, celestial shimmer. Because they are often cut into Rose Cuts (flat bottoms with faceted tops), they reflect light in a softer, more romantic way.

Even though they are a 10 on the Mohs scale of hardness, the high number of inclusions can sometimes make them slightly more “brittle” than a flawless stone.

  • Cleaning: Use warm soapy water and a soft toothbrush.
  • Protection: Avoid ultrasonic cleaners, as the intense vibrations can sometimes stress the internal inclusions.

Absolutely. No two salt and pepper diamonds are identical. Each stone has its own “fingerprint” of inclusions. When you choose one, you are truly getting a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry that no one else in the world will ever own.