The Four C's "Color"
Grading A Diamond's Color
Generally,
the less color a diamond shows, the better diamond it is. (There are exceptions like extremely valuable "fancy colored
diamonds" and less expensive enhanced "irradiated" stones, but I will focus here on standard diamonds.) This
chart would indicate the GIA grading system, the below chart shows other European systems which are still used... Generally
speaking from "D" to "G" tend to appear colorless...
Various Diamond Color Grading
Systems
Diamond color is graded across a scale, from a perfect colorless D to a markedly colored Z.
Almost any diamond will show a slight trace of color, except for the very top grades, which are both rare and very expensive.
And considering that the group of upper grades all appear colorless to most I suggest that a good value on the sliding scale
of color places on right at "G" for the best "look" at the "best price".... Why pay for something
you can't possibly detect?
For all practical purposes, diamonds graded from D through
F are considered colorless. While subtle graduations from D through F do exist, and are measurable by a gemologist
(using 10X magnification to map the stone's interior), to all but the trained eye these stones appear perfect. And this
is where the better values are too...
Most diamonds sold are in the G through J range. While the untrained
eye still sees these stones as colorless when mounted, they are graded as slightly tinted. "J" being more pronouncedly
colored or tinted than a "G" color, most stores stock stones in this range, and order in higher grades as required.
They don't pay those prices for the "highest grades" so why should you :) If you stay up toward the "G"
range you're going to find the best value and beauty for your money... Why you might even save a week's salary or
something :)
Diamonds graded from K through M show visibly more marked color, and are classified as faintly tinted
or colored. Now this is where you really start seeing color "big time", a stone of this range hammerset into a warm
18Kt yellow gold ring looks stunning while place it into a nice platinum or white gold set and it looks fairly terribly colored...
From N on towards Z colors are increasingly more dramatic.