• Cut • Color • Clarity • Carat Weight

"Color"

Goodman and Sons considers color to be the second most important aspect of a diamond, second only to cut. Although diamonds come in many colors such as red, blue, pink, purple, etc., we are talking about diamonds without color or traces of color.

Most diamonds on the market appear to be "white" or colorless. However, diamonds commonly have traces of yellow or brown in their body color. Diamonds are given a letter grade to represent the amount of or lack of color. The chart below represents the grading scale used for color by the Gemological Institute of America.




Here are the five groups broken down by definition:

* D-E-F: Colorless


These diamonds range from no traces of yellow or brown (D) to the slightest traces (F). The color grade of (F) starts to show traces of color on diamonds over 0.50ct. but is still nonapparent and is considered colorless.


* G-H-I-J: Near Colorless


These diamonds start to show a slight trace of yellow or brown at (G) and pick-up larger amounts of yellow or brown at (J).


* K-L-M


These diamonds start to show a higher amount of yellow or brown. At this level the average untrained eye is able to distinguish the yellow or brown tint.


* N-O-P-Q-R


The diamonds in this range show a real apparent color of yellow or brown. This color range can be noticed by the average, untrained person.


* S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z


Labeled "light yellow" these diamonds show strong traces of yellow that are noticed in diamonds that are unmounted and mounted.


When thinking of color related to diamonds, try not to view the diamond for a yellow or brown appearance. Instead, take note of how "bright" one diamond looks against another with all things being equal. The appearance of color is hard to notice in diamonds of similar grades.

Another problem is that we tend to think of yellow as a brighter color when yellow in this sense tends to be a dull yellowish to brown color. With diamonds of similar cut qualities one should look for "brightness" differences in diamonds as opposed to looking for the yellow. Does one diamond look brighter than another?

The chart below shows the differences in colors under controlled lighting situations. You too, should compare diamonds side-by-side to see what is and what is not apparent to you.




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