[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When you ask someone about their diamond in their ring, or what they bought their soon to be bride, they proudly tell you the cut, the carat weight, the color and finally the clarity. So, let’s talk about color for a bit, because if you look at a diamond, they appear to be sparkly, clear, maybe with a bit of blue and just generally full of light, right? WRONG!

Believe it or not, diamonds have colors, and I don’t just mean the fancy diamonds that are yellow and pink and brown, I mean the white or clear ones that you see in 99.9% of all engagement rings and wedding bands. Now, if you have done any kind of research at all, you already know there is a scale that the diamond is graded on, based on the alphabet.

Forget ABC and Start at D

I am only going to give you a brief rundown of the alphabet scale of the grading of diamond colors because you can find it on every single diamond website out there but the gist is this; the lower the letter the better the color and the alphabet runs from D being the best to Z, which would be the worst and would be a yellow/brownish color.

The truth is, there is no way to write a comprehensive 600 word post about color when it comes to a diamond. Maybe a short book, but not a blog post because you run into certifications and the eye of the beholder and grays and blues and yellows and tints and, well, you are starting to get the picture.

But, you can put two diamonds that are on both ends of the alphabet scale and see the difference in color with your own eyes, and if you take a diamond that is, say a p or higher, and put it on a white piece of paper, you will be able to see that it is not white and bright.

The Brighter the Stone the Greener the Bill

It’s a fact that the better the color the more expense the stone. So, if you buy a diamond that is colorless, or D, then you are paying a premium for that diamond.  If you can’t afford premium, then look at the lower end colors and decide for yourself if you can really see the difference.  Remember that when that ring is on her finger, the only thing that is going to matter is how it looks on her finger.

Another factor to consider is how and what you set your diamond in, or the surrounding stones and the type of metal. For example, if your diamond is a middle alphabet, like an I/J, then the rule of thumb is if the setting has diamonds around the center stone that those are either the same color or a lesser color, so they do not outshine the center stone, and the center stone will actually appear whiter with lesser color stones surrounding it.

Another way to fool the eye is the color metal you use to set your stone in. For instance, if your stone has a yellow tint, you can set it in yellow gold to make it appear whiter, and if your stone lives on the upper side of the alphabet, always set it in platinum or white gold.  If you have your heart set on platinum or white gold, but your stone has a yellow tint, consider using yellow gold for the prongs that the diamond sits in, and you will still get the same effect!

The bottom line is this, color only matters as far as what your eyes can see without your rose colored glasses on, so take a good look at what you are buying and if you like it, go for it.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]