Diamond Color

The 4Cs of diamond grading are; color, cut, clarity and carat weight. The purpose of this article is to give you detailed information about how diamond color is graded and how it affects the beauty and value of the stone. Most of the information here will pertain to white diamonds. Colored, or fancy diamonds, are graded differently. See our article on fancy diamonds for detailed information about these rare and unique gemstones. 

Color

Diamond color actually refers to the absence of color. The clearer or “whiter” the diamond, the rarer and more valuable it is. Color affects the beauty of a diamond in two ways. First, it affects the way light reflects through the stone, the clearer the diamond, the brighter and more brilliant the diamond. Does a dingy window look its best when sunlight hits it? No it doesn’t and neither does a diamond – but it’s not always something that is easy to notice unless you have a side-by-side comparison of a diamond with better color.

 

D

Completely Colorless. This diamond possesses the rarest and highest color grade there is which means it is totally colorless. It looks crisp, clean and clear when compared to any other diamond color. If you are looking for perfection, this is the color grade for you.

E 

Colorless. This diamond is exceptionally crisp and clear in appearance. Its colorless grade means it will appear “white” and produce optimal fire and brilliance. It is one of the highest and rarest diamond color grades there is.

F 

Colorless. This diamond is colorless. This is the last of the colorless grades but is still quite rare which makes it more valuable than stones with lower color grades. However, it presents the buyer with the best value in the colorless range.

G 

Near colorless. This diamond appears colorless to the unaided eye. It provides an excellent value to those who want a colorless appearance but don’t want to pay the price for a colorless diamond.

H

Near colorless. This diamond will appear colorless, especially once it is mounted. It will often reveal only a slight hint of color when it is compared side-by-side to diamonds of a higher color grade. 

I 

Near colorless. This diamond may exhibit a hint of color but often it goes unnoticed to the untrained eye. This color grade provides the buyer with an exceptional value and once the diamond is mounted in the setting of choice, any indication of color is quite difficult to detect. This is the lowest color grade that we carry at Bahdos.

K-Z

Light Color with grade K diamonds being lightest and Z diamonds having the most color

 

Fun Fact:

 “Why does the GIA color grading system start at D?

Before GIA universalized the D-to-Z Color Grading Scale, a variety of other systems were used loosely, from A, B, and C (used without clear definition), to Arabic (0, 1, 2, 3) and Roman (I, II, III) numbers, to descriptive terms like "gem blue" or "blue white," which are notorious for misinterpretation. So the creators of the GIA Color Scale wanted to start fresh, without any association with earlier systems. Thus the GIA scale starts at the letter D. Very few people still cling to other grading systems, and no other system has the clarity and universal acceptance of the GIA scale.” via Gemological Institute of America (GIA) website

 

Pricing

As mentioned earlier, the clearer the diamond, the rarer it is – which means the diamond is more expensive when compared to a similar diamond with a lower color grade. If you are looking to get a beautiful diamond for less, you can play around with the color grade a bit. While D-E-F colored diamonds are naturally the most brilliant and clean looking since they are colorless, you will pay substantially more for them than some of the other grades.

In fact, there are absolutely striking diamonds in the G-H-I grades that you can find that look equally as beautiful to the untrained eye. To really see the difference you would need to look at the two diamonds side-by-side to notice a difference – and even then, depending on the qualities involved, you might not notice anything. Once you get into the J grades or lower you should be able to detect a yellowish tint to the diamond.