Diamond Color

Evaluating Diamond Color

What exactly is diamond color? While most people think of the classic, transparent diamond, the colors of diamonds actually range from transparent all the way to a yellowish or brown. There are different saturations of diamond color, and tones. Diamonds also come in an array of colors, including yellow, pink, blue, green, red, brown, and other hues. Diamonds with unusual or intense coloration are generally called “fancy” by the diamond industry and are more rare and valuable.

How Diamonds are Graded

The Gemological Institute of America, known as the GIA for short, is the most commonly used system for evaluating diamond color. They've created something know as the “GIA Color Grade Scale”, and it has placed a grading system on the many different colors and shades of diamonds, classifying into 22 letter grades.

GIA COLOR GRADE SCALE

The Gemological Institute of America has certified diamond color grades as “master color comparison” diamonds. When a diamond is being graded, it is compared against these master color comparison grades, to find the shades that match it most closely. Fancy Colored Diamonds are not represented on this scale. They are graded for their color not lack of color. Diamond grading should take place in a colorless environment, using a balance of florescent light source that has been filtered.

Fluorescence of Diamonds

When a diamond is graded, the strength of the florescence of that diamond must also be indicated. Fluorescence causes some diamonds to change color when viewed in our everyday, ultraviolet lighting, as well as under fluorescent light bulbs. Fluorescence may be considered strong, moderate, or weak. When a diamond has an appraisal it will also note what color the diamond will change to due to the fluorescence.