More information on Diamond Colour

Diamond colour usually refers to the amount of yellow colour present in a diamond. The colour is not always yellow though. It may be a greyish colour.

The clearer (less colour) a diamond has the higher the quality.

Diamond colour is graded on a letter scale ranging from D to Z. This was devised by the Gemelogical Institute of America (GIA). It starts at D just in case diamonds are found of higher colour quality (less colour) than has been seen to date. Devised in the 1950's it would seem unlikely that we will ever see a grade higher than D, but you never know.

Colour and Price

A diamond with more colour is less rare and thus less valuable. Colour is a subjective thing though, and many people prefer their diamonds to have a little colour in them. Diamonds with colour are also used to contrast with diamonds of a higher colour grade, for example on the shoulder of a ring with a higher grade diamond in the center setting

Diamond Colour Scale

D

Absolutely Colourless. These are exceedingly rare.

E - F

Colourless. A very slight colour may be detected by an expert gemologist. Because no colour is visible to the human eye, these grades of colour are considered to be colourless.

G - H - I

Near Colourless. The colour in these diamonds will not be noticed by most people unless compared with diamonds of a higher quality. This makes these grades extremely poplular, since the price is lower for an excellent quality diamond.

J -K

Noticable Colour. There is a noticeable warm yellow colour to these diamonds.

L - Z

More Noticable Colour. These diamonds have a very distinct tendency towards the yellow colour range. There is noticably less demand for these diamonds.

Z+ or Fancy

These are diamonds that have a great degree of colour to them. They fall into the Fancy category (not strictly part of the GIA scale) because they are often used in high quality costume jewellery where their colour adds to the piece.