Diamond Color Scale, California Diamond Jewelry Stores

COLOR

Color refers to the degree to which a Diamond is colorless.

Most diamonds range in color from colorless to yellow. Diamonds are graded on a color scale established by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) which ranges from D (colorless) to Z, the yellowest.  With diamonds, the whiter the better. The yellow color in diamonds comes from trace amounts of nitrogen, and as a rule, the more yellow the stone, the less value it has. There's a good reason for this. The yellower the stone, the less sharp and sparkly it appears. A whiter stone lets more light pass through it, making it sparkle and shine. The exception to the rule is the canary diamond, which is a beautiful bright yellow and very expensive. The following chart shows the GIA descriptive categories from “D” which is the clearest and most valuable to grades of “V” at the other end which are dingy yellow and less expensive.  Please note, color examples are meant only as an educational guide.

The average shopper doesn't even notice slight off white tints in mounted diamonds having a grade from G to J because the increasing nuances of color are so slight.

The average diamond purchased in the U.S. is color grade M or N, but the customer is usually told it's higher. For many years, a frequent practice in the industry was to "exaggerate" color by at least two grades. To grade color, diamonds are compared to diamonds of known color, called masterstones, under controlled conditions. Because diamonds reflect the color of their mountings and mountings cover part of the stone, mounted diamonds cannot be graded as consistently as loose ones.

Practical Guide: Clarity