Color

Speaking of diamonds color is referring to the presence or absence of color in white diamonds. With diamonds, the best color is no color.
Diamonds are not all truly colorless, but the standard for judging all shades is the colorless/white diamond.

• The less color in a diamond, the more colorful the fire. Diamonds allow light to be reflected and dispersed as a rainbow of color. This light dispersion, or color flash, has no effect on the technical grading of color.
  The absolute finest colorless stone has a D rating, descending through each letter of the alphabet to Z, designating a diamond of light yellow, brown, or gray.
  Color in a diamond will act as a filter, and will diminish the spectrum of color emitted.
• If the color is more intense than Z, it is considered fancy. A fancy yellow diamond fetches a higher price than a light yellow diamond.

Color is a result of the composition of the diamond, and it never changes over time. It may be caused by the presence of minute trace elements, such as nitrogen, within the atomic framework of the carbon crystal, scientifically measured in ppm (parts per million).
As the body color becomes more intense, the grade for color descends the scale. The gradations are very precise.
Discerning a single grade under less than ideal laboratory conditions is extremely difficult even for an expert. For accurate color grade it is always best to compare diamonds graded by either the GIA or the AGS.
It would be advisable to select a diamond with at least a K color grade.

It is also true that while most people strive to buy the most colorless diamond they can afford, there are many people who actually prefer the warmer glow of lower-color diamonds.

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Grading

Grading is performed in laboratories and only for diamonds which are unmounted — loose diamonds, and they do so under special light. Mounting can very much influence the perception of color. Even a trained professional cannot always tell the difference between, say a D color and an E or F color diamond on a mounted ring.

At the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) the color of graded diamonds is compared to the color of control stones, preselected gems of a specific color.

Watch out: There are some tricks that can influence color in order to deceive the buyer:

• Color can be influenced by irradiation treatment followed by heat treatment. Diamonds having been subject to this treatment might be sold as natural fancy colored. Sometimes the customer is advised of the artificial color enhancement and this happens when the diamond is certified by GIA or AGS laboratories.
• Coating is coloring of the pavilion with some sort of dye, applied to change a diamond's color. This treatment is not permanent. Sometimes dots or larger areas of purple or blue ink are painted on the diamond to help counteract a yellowish color. The dots are usually obscured by the diamond's setting, so they are difficult to see in a mounted stone. This type of coating can usually be removed with water or cleaning solutions.

Fluorescence

Fluorescence can be observed in natural history museums. Fluorescent minerals are placed in darkened rooms with black lights. They gleam, the effect is like a white shirt in a discotheque.

When exposed to ultraviolet radiation the stone produces a color reaction. About 20% of diamonds exhibit fluorescence.

The most common fluorescent color is blue (weak to very strong). Blue fluorescence can be an advantage, particularly in lower colored diamonds, because the blue effect compensates for yellow and makes the diamond appear whiter in any light that has an ultra violet component (e.g. daylight and halogen lighting).

In grading standards very little fluorescence or none is advised in a near colorless stone. Very light to medium fluorescence (color and intensity) may be seen as desirable in the D to I diamonds color range. A GIA survey of experts and consumers found a slight preference for fluorescent diamonds.

Not to worry too much about fluorescence, because its effects won't be apparent under most lighting situations. Only if a diamond has extremely strong flourescence it may affect its appearance so that it can seem oily or cloudy, which is not desirable.

The diamonds color grade affects their price, but if your budget prevents you from buying a D through F graded diamond it does not mean you can't purchase a beautiful gem. Diamond grades G through J are fine stones, too, and other grades may be perfectly suitable. An experienced jeweler can help you evaluate and select the best diamond for your needs.

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