Diamond Color Diamonds are found in all colors. The finest diamonds are colorless; which make them rare and expensive. Beyond the preference for a colorless diamond, however, the color of a diamond does not affect its brightness or sparkle. The truth is, in some cases, when a good quality diamond is mounted in a setting, if there is any negative color aspects on that particular diamond, the setting will offset the negative color. Diamonds are graded on a scale D- Z, D being the most desirable and Z being least desirable. The following are the color scale standards that GIA labs use: (D-F) “colorless”, (G-J) “near colorless”, (K-M) “faint yellow”, (N-R) “very light yellow”, (S-W) “light yellow”, (X-Z) “fancy yellow”. The following are the color scale standards that AGS labs use: (0-1) “colorless”, (1.5-3.0) “near colorless”, (3.5-4.5) “faint yellow”, (5.0-7.0) “very light yellow”, (7.5-9.5) “light yellow”, and (10) “fancy yellow”. Listed below is a visual of GIA & AGS color grade chart: GIA D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | | Colorless | Near Colorless | Faint Yellow | Very Light Yellow | Light Yellow | Yellow |
AGS 0 | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 5 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.5 | 10 | | Colorless | Near Colorless | Faint Yellow | Very Light Yellow | Light Yellow | Yellow |
GIA & AGS laboratories grade diamonds for color under certain, specific circumstances. GIA uses alphabets (D – Z) and AGS uses numeric (0 – 10) to determine a color grade for a specific diamond. The diamond must be loose, positioned in the correct posture, under the correct lightning and background, and viewed from the correct angle and distance. The diamond is also compared to a set of master stones and then issued either a letter or number for its color grade. |
