In most people’s minds, diamonds are thought to be colorless. In point of fact, however, the majority of diamonds have some degree of color. It is essential to give careful consideration to a diamond’s color before making a purchase because the color of a diamond has a significant impact on both its value and its beauty.
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This article will teach you everything you need to know about the various colors that can be found in diamonds, how they are graded, and which color grades are ideal for use in engagement rings and wedding bands.
The Color Scale: Determining the Varying Colors of Diamonds
The yellow color of newly formed diamonds is caused by the incorporation of minute amounts of nitrogen along with the carbon that is present during the process of diamond formation deep within the mantle of the earth.
Diamonds can be found in a variety of yellow hues, ranging from ones so faint that they are invisible to the naked eye to others that have a brownish yellow cast. The Gemological Institute of America, also known as GIA, is the organization that developed the standard color grading scale for diamonds.
The scale runs from the letter D to the letter Z, and it is divided into the five categories that are as follows:
- Colours – Diamonds that receive a grade of D, E, or F fall into this category. One needs an extremely powerful microscope in order to observe their color.
- Nearly Colourless – Diamonds that have been graded as G, H, I, or J are nearly colorless, and the slight hints of yellow that they do have are so subtle that they are almost never noticed by an untrained eye.
- Faint – K, L, and M are the letter grades assigned to diamonds that fall into this category. These diamonds have a distinct but muted yellow color.
- Very Light – Very light diamonds are graded from N to R, and their yellow hues are even more pronounced than those of faint diamonds.
- Light – The lightest diamonds are the ones with the yellowest hue, and they can be graded anywhere from S to Z.
Why Does the Color Scale Begin with D Rather Than A?
In the past, the color grading systems that were used for diamonds were notorious for being unreliable and frequently inaccurate. When classifying their diamonds according to color, some jewelers and gem traders used the letters A, B, and C. In this grading system, a diamond could receive two or three As if it was rated higher than the valuable A category. This helped to distinguish it from the other diamonds. Some jewelers graded the color of their diamonds using Arabic numbers or Roman numerals, while others used descriptive words.
When the GIA decided to standardize the diamond color scale, they started the scale with the letter D to make it clear that it was completely new and was not associated with any of the earlier grading systems. This was done to make it clear that it was completely new and was not associated with any of the earlier grading systems.
Which Color Grades Produce the Most Beautiful Results for Wedding and Engagement Rings?
Although the answer to this question is different for every jeweler, we typically recommend that our customers select diamonds with grades ranging from D to I. Because of our many years of experience, we have found that diamonds that are colorless or nearly colorless are the most beautiful and work well with any precious metal, including platinum and white gold. These diamonds are also the most rare.
One Last Thing: Don’t Get Mixed Up With All the Different Colors
These are your run-of-the-mill white diamonds, which we have been referring to throughout this piece. The majority of them have a color that is similar to light yellow due to nitrogen, and the GIA’s Color Scale is used to grade them. There is a very small chance that some of the white diamonds you purchase could be tainted with other trace elements besides nitrogen. When combined with nitrogen, these other elements produce a spectrum of new colors, including red, blue, pink, and green. Fancy color diamonds are diamonds that contain any of the aforementioned colors. They are not ranked on any particular scale of color, but rather their value is determined by the intensity and consistency of the color they possess.
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