COMPARE NEAR COLORLESS TO COLORLESS DIAMONDS

Color is a visual.

It’s something your eyes can detect. Just like small specks of inclusions in the stone, it’s something that stands out and gets noticed.

The good thing is, most of the diamonds on the market have a white tone. Whether it be pure white, fine white, or off white, you’ll find near colorless and colorless diamonds everywhere.

And at first, these various shades of white (or the increase of yellow) is not that apparent, until…

You put them side by side.

Once you set them down and look at them, color becomes obvious.

Most of the diamond colors are shown in a diamond color chart like this:

But diamond color doesn’t really look like that. Color charts are used as an easy representation to make people learn and understand color.

Color is actually harder to see (much stronger from a side view or bottom view; which is how they are graded).

Let me show you…

I’m going to place diamonds side by side (just like I do at the jewelry store) so you can see the difference yourself.

Let’s compare E color to H color:

(Diamonds come from James Allen, using the exact same quality; all except color, and the prices were good at the time of this post.)

CARAT, CLARITY, COLOR, CUT, POL, SYM, FLUOR	PRICE	VIEW
1.00, VS1, E, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$7,560	VIEW
1.07, VS1, H, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$5,430	VIEW

Notice the big difference in price?

That’s what you pay for an almost perfect color grade (sort of like going all the way up to flawless in clarity). Color, or should I say no color, is very rare and very expensive. Granted, these diamonds are the cream of the crop; I choose 1 carat diamonds, VS1 clarity, and triple excellent cuts, so the price would be high anyway.

But still, it’s up to you to decide if the whiter color is worth it.

There is a visual difference (placing them side by side), but if they’re not side by side, it could be harder to judge.

D, E, F color diamonds are called ‘pure white‘. G, H (at the top end of the near colorless range), are called ‘fine white‘. And I, J (at the lower of the near colorless range), are often called ‘off white‘.

Take a peek at a real color grading chart below:

You can see the subtle shifts in hue from one diamond to the next. It’s gradual, and once the diamonds are set in a mounting, these hues are even harder to see (especially if the mounting is yellow).

Now let’s compare D color to I color:

CARAT, CLARITY, COLOR, CUT, POL, SYM, FLUOR	PRICE	VIEW
1.04, VS1, D, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$8,750	VIEW
1.04, VS1, I, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$4,760	VIEW

That’s definitely a bigger difference.

You can see the color change, sure… But that’s because of the huge gap in range (5 grades). If you put diamonds that are next to each other on the color charts, like F to G, it would be almost impossible to tell…

Compare F color to G color diamonds:

CARAT, CLARITY, COLOR, CUT, POL, SYM, FLUOR	PRICE	VIEW
1.03, VS1, F, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$7,880	VIEW
1.00, VS1, G, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$6,560	VIEW

The prices are closer together, as well.

Colorless still costs much more, but the visual difference between an F and a G is very hard to see (and you may never see the difference unless someone pointed it out to you).

Personally, I love pure white diamonds (I have one in my ear). They tend to pop in the mounting like there’s a spotlight on the stone. But that’s me, and I’ve been working in the industry for 30 years now. Some people like near colorless diamonds better because the color adds warmth to the diamond. It’s a personal thing that could have a huge impact on your wallet.

One last comparison…

Compare D color to J color:

CARAT, CLARITY, COLOR, CUT, POL, SYM, FLUOR	PRICE	VIEW
1.04, VS1, D, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$8,750	VIEW
1.10, VS1, J, EX, EX, EX, NONE	$4,380	VIEW

Striking, isn’t it?

Is color important to you? Do you think it’s worth the price increase?

Which diamond color would you buy?

• D, E, F, Pure White, Diamond Colors
• G, H, Fine White, Diamond Colors
• I, J, Off White, Diamond Colors

Let me know in the comments below.

Cheers! :)