Color
The less color a diamond has, up to a certain point, the greater its rarity and value. Many diamonds may appear colorless to the untrained eye, but the vast majority do contain very slight traces of yellow or brown.
The Best Color is No Color, But.....
Color ranges from D (colorless) to Z. Stones with colors of D, E, or F are considered colorless and make for a very bright stone. G, H, and I stones are called "near-colorless."
Lower color grades do not mean that the stone is not beautiful, in fact some "sun tan" makes certain diamonds look more natural. Antique diamond cuts such as Antique Cushion, Asscher cut, French cut or step cut diamonds such as an Emerald cut look wonderful (if not better) than their colorless counterparts. This is because brilliant cuts are better at retaining and magnifying color in diamonds. This is the reason why fancy colored diamonds almost universally are faceted as modified cushions, ovals and most of all as radiants.
K is the new H
In the past decade diamond grading labs such as GIA started to grade color in diamonds using higher standards than 20-30 years ago. A stone that could have been graded H in 1990 barely gets K these days.
Further down the color scale, diamonds have an increasing yellow or gray tint that makes the stone a bit darker. Stones with very heavy yellow tints (past "Z") are called "canary" or "fancy" diamonds and are actually worth more than colorless stones because then the color becomes more desirable as the color saturation increases.
Colorless stones are expensive. If you are looking for the most attractive stone for your money, anything above a "J" will look nice. The color difference only really shows when compared side by side with a different stone.
Subject to Change
Color is almost impossible to accurately determine without good lighting conditions and a set of graded stones to use as a reference. More often than not, the color of stones at retail establishments is very inaccurate. Stores can get away with this because you simply cannot tell the difference between an F and a G, or even an F and an I, without training. Unless you are an expert, you must get a certified stone to make sure that you are getting what you think you are getting.
| D E F | G H I J | K L M | N O P Q R | S-Z |
| Colorless | Near Colorless | Faint Yellow | Very Light Yellow | Light Yellow |
Color quality is critical because the less color a diamond has, the more its value increases dramatically. Color determination consists of a comparison with a master set of diamonds under daylight conditions. A single increase in a diamond's color grade can boost the value by thousands of dollars in some cases. A diamond color is graded from the letter "D" (Colorless) to "Z" (prominent hue).
