Click here to view our COVID-19 safety plan

Color in Detail (Colorless, Fancy Color, Fluorescence)

One of the 4 C’s in choosing a diamond for your ring is color. Color gives the diamond an extra feature that will determine if there are any chemical impurities within. A perfect diamond is very clear; actually it’s transparent with no hue or color. The color of the diamond ring is affected by the crystal lattice that exists in all gemstones. Your diamond color can either increase the value of your ring or decrease. Most valuable are the white diamonds, but decrease in price if there are yellow hues while pink and blue diamonds are rarer finds and can be much pricier.

The impurities that might exist in your diamond ring would be nitrogen. Nitrogen in a diamond’s structure would cause a yellowish to brownish tint. Almost all white diamonds have nitrogen therefore; it’s very rare to find a pure white diamond. One of the ways in which to classify the color of your diamond ring is by using the GIA table for colors. Diamond rings can be ranging from D to Z (with D being “colorless” and Z having a bright yellow coloration). The diamond ring can be composed of several diamonds, and whether you should choose a mix of colored diamonds could also affect the overall price of the ring. However, the yellow hue if it appears in a bright yellow hue would have a high value. Also interesting if that if your diamonds ring has a Z color; it is also highly valued as it is also rare to be found.

Colorless diamond rings ranges from “D- F” and “G –“is considered near-colorless, “K- M” are slightly colored. “N – Y” is usually with a light yellow or brown spots, and Z having a bright yellow tone. Fancy color diamond rings are those diamonds with eccentric hues or tones other than the traditional white color. Diamonds found in other colors are much rarer and much more valuable. Because the higher color differentiation, it means that the diamond ring has suffered higher structural imperfections and contains a variety of impurities. The colors for your diamond ring can vary from yellow, pink, blue, red, green, brown, and other hues. These colors are many times referred as “fancy” by jewelers.

The diamond ring color might also be affected depending on the fluorescence. Every diamond has a fluorescence that is a characteristic that makes some diamonds appear to change color when exposed through sunlight. The grading system of the fluorescence is basic and very easy to remember: faint, weak, moderate, strong, or very strong. Fluorescence of your diamond ring might emit a color usually blue, yellow or white. Therefore, if your diamond ring is yellowish, but fluoresces blue, the effect could cause the diamond to look whiter. The same effect might happen if the pink diamond ring fluoresces a yellow tint, the color might be perceived differently. Be aware that the fluorescence effect is not enough to change the color of the diamond ring. However, if the diamond ring with multiple stones fluoresces, the overall effect could make the engagement ring to be out of balance. Nevertheless, it’s important that the individual is happy with their diamond ring.