Color

Color Ratings In ‘Colorless’ Diamonds

While carat is primarily a determination of a diamond’s size, other aspects of diamond grading – a diamonds cut, clarity, color – speak more to the individual quality of the diamond.

When talking about diamond color as one of the 4 C’s of diamond grading, jewelers are usually discussing the absence or presence of color in white diamonds. This is not to be confused with the fancy colors of diamonds, of which there is a range of true colors. Diamond colors in fancy color diamonds are preferable and highly valuable, whereas color (white shading) in a white diamond is not.

Diamond color ratings are provided on diamond certifications to indicate the presence, absence, and color of diamonds. Diamond color grades follow a diamond color scale from ‘D’ (completely colorless) to ‘Z’ (faint yellowish or brownish color). A jeweler’s diamond color chart, which can be referenced online for online diamond jewelry buying, can help diamond buyers determine the visual appearance of the color scale of diamonds.

Diamond color and clarity, another of the diamond 4 C’s, are closely related. Clarity refers to inclusions (“flaws”) in and on the surface of the diamond. Color and clarity of diamonds relate to each other because the presence of inclusions has a sort of dimming effect on diamond color. Clarity ranges in perception and is graded much the same as color. Again, it is helpful to consult a diamond color and clarity chart to visualize the clarity and color scale of diamonds. It is rare to find gems with truly pure diamond clarity and color absence. These are the most valuable of diamonds, and not stones that would be bought by most on the open diamond market.
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When in the market for diamonds, buyers should expect to find diamonds that are have some color, even some flaws, unless they are shopping exclusively for the most rare and pure of diamonds; but then, those diamonds are out of reach to most diamond buying budgets. Learning more about diamond color grading helps put diamond buying into perspective; even though a buyer will likely be purchasing a lesser grade of diamond, that does not mean they are buying a cheap-looking, unattractive diamond at all. Despite grades and ratings, many color grades are not visible to the naked eye. Even to the trained eye, color grades that are less than the top grade are still highly valuable. Jewelry settings also bear on the end result appearance of diamond jewelry. And to be sure, some people prefer the characteristics unique to the different color grades of diamonds (for example, a whiter diamond may be less ‘valuable’ to a gemologist, but offers a softer color some people prefer).

Purchasers should go into their diamond buying experience with some idea of the color and quality of diamond they hope to purchase. Online diamond buying makes this task a bit easier, as it is easier to research prices of diamonds at various levels of quality and grades.

Online diamond buying is made easier by the charts and scales designed for diamond buying. Once a buyer is familiar with the grades and what each means, choosing a diamond according to its graded specifications becomes a matter of comparison and weighing the different graded aspects of the diamond. Every diamond is unique, so there is always a matter of give and take among the 4 C’s of diamond buying. Buyers need only to know what aspects are most valued to them, and how each might balance another.