Diamonds come naturally in almost every color.
Most often, people are interested in diamonds
within the white range. Colorless diamonds are more valuable,
because they are rarer and it is the lack of color, or whiteness
in a diamond that allows the light to pass effortlessly through
the stone and disperse that beauty back to the observer.
The color grading scale established by the G.I.A. (Gemological
Institute of America) varies from D (totally colorless) to Z (light
yellow). D through F are virtually colorless. G, H
and I diamonds appear colorless when mounted. J, K and L
diamonds look very nearly colorless, but you can see some color
in larger stones. Beyond M, most people can see color
pretty easily. The color of the metal in a mounting can
either mask or enhance the diamond color. Yellow gold makes
slightly yellow or brown diamonds appear more colorless.
White mounting (gold or platinum) makes the color more perceptible.
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|
Color
Grading Scale |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
D
E F |
G
H |
I
J |
K
L |
M
- Z |
Z+ |
|
Colorless |
Near
Colorless |
Faint
Yellow |
Light
Yellow |
Fancy
Yellow |
| |
Diamonds
with fluorescence glow when exposed to light
which contains relatively high amounts of ultraviolet.
Fluorescence is not formally a color grading term. It
is due to natural interaction of light's energy and the atoms
in the diamond. Some diamonds (about 10%) fluoresce strongly
enough so as to be somewhat noticeable in regular (incandescent)
light. Generally, for very light yellow color diamonds,
fluorescence is considered to be beneficial since it makes the
diamond appear whiter.
Color
Guide For Loose Diamonds
