H color in direct sunlight

[HWin]

I finally got the ring with a 1.6c H color stone (H&A 1.2 hca; no flor.). It looks a lot more white than I had thought in most lighting and angles. However, at certain angles in direct sunlight, it looks EXTREMELY yellow (from the top!). Is this a normal occurance with sunlight? I've tried looking at it in pretty much every conceivable lighting condition and this is the only time where any color is plainly noticable.

Just wondering.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

This sounds odd to me, but I'm not an expert! lol My stones are the opposite (I have D, G, and Hs). They all look clear and white in sunlight and under artifical lighting appear slightly yellowish.

Michelle

 

[Trinity]

I think it has something to do with the size and cut of the stone. I am no expert either, lol.

 

[aljdewey]

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On 3/2/2004 7:43:12 PM HWin wrote:





I finally got the ring with a 1.6c H color stone (H&A 1.2 hca; no flor.). It looks a lot more white than I had thought in most lighting and angles. However, at certain angles in direct sunlight, it looks EXTREMELY yellow (from the top!). Is this a normal occurance with sunlight? I've tried looking at it in pretty much every conceivable lighting condition and this is the only time where any color is plainly noticable.

Just wondering.
----------------

I think it's a reflection of the yellow sunlight that you're seeing. I have a 1.24 H color stone (H&A, 1.0 HCA, no fluor). It actually looks WHITER to me in sunlight, and looks more "clear" in indoor lighting.

 

[HWin]

I think it's a reflection of the yellow sunlight that you're seeing. I have a 1.24 H color stone (H&A, 1.0 HCA, no fluor). It actually looks WHITER to me in sunlight, and looks more 'clear' in indoor lighting.
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Sunlight is pure white light (all colors of the visible spectrum). I agree that this is weird, and maybe it's in my head. I've been trying really hard to find any small imperfection and maybe I'm starting to see things, but I could have sworn that from about a 20-30 degree angle, the stone was like a yellow light bulb. Don't get me wrong, though, I'm very happy with the stone, but was just curious what causes this effect.

 

[pqcollectibles]

I have a steely blue color J set in platinum. Most of the time it faces up white white white. Other times it has this marvelously beautiful hint of blue to it. Sometimes, in strong sunlight, my diamond completely disappears into the band. It's like the ring is one solid round of platinum with a sparkly section throwing off colored light. Really quite neat, I've found.

Just curious, but what color metal is your setting??

 

[HWin]

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On 3/2/2004 9:48:44 PM pqcollectibles wrote:

I have a steely blue color J set in platinum. Most of the time it faces up white white white. Other times it has this marvelously beautiful hint of blue to it. Sometimes, in strong sunlight, my diamond completely disappears into the band. It's like the ring is one solid round of platinum with a sparkly section throwing off colored light. Really quite neat, I've found.

Just curious, but what color metal is your setting?? ----------------

It's a platinum setting that's polished to the point of being a mirror. I'm going to try and take some pictures tomorrow of the effect. Hopefully I'll be able to capture it with a camera.

 

[Mara]

Very odd. I have a G stone that appears blue in sunlight...no hint of yellow. My H Regent never appears to look yellow, but then again it's on my neck.

Sounds like some strange phenomenon you are experiencing!!




Sure you aren't wearing a yellow shirt? Diamonds WILL reflect off colors near them (hence the blue in my diamond sometimes.....reflecting most likely off blue sky)

 

[heart prongs]

My H gets blue and even more firey and sparkly in the car -- super white otherwise -- kl

 

[maria]

Mine is an F and is a BIC so it's very white/brilliant. Sometimes when the sun hits it from an angle, maybe from the pavilion(?), it looks sort of grey, almost like PQ said it looks the same color as my platinum band. Other times it's very firey in the sunlight. I've often wondered what would cause that. I thought one time cut nut said diamonds don't look their best in sunlight.

 

[Mara]

yes maria...Cut Nut did note that once!!

 

[maria]

Mara, do you know exactly what he means by that, and/or can you comment on this grey look? I've only noticed it when driving, with my hand on the wheel. Could it be because the interior of my car is grey? Or is it a cut problem? My diamond is well-cut, according to the charts and the HCA (1.2). Not ideal, but just outside of it.

 

[Mara]

well diamonds take on various colors around them. i notice my diamond looks like silvery grey inside when indirect light or a day is cloudy. could be because your car is grey. one night we were in a vietnamese noodle house and they had a blue neon sign and i was around 50 feet away and noticed my ring was blue! it looked awesome. i couldn't believe it was picking up the color from so far away. so i just think that the various colors we see have to do with what is around us...possibly your car interior.

especially if it is a well-cut stone, it's not as though you are looking at a fish-eye or anything.

 

[maria]

Mara, thanks. No, it's definitely not a fish-eye effect.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Good point about the car upholstery, Mara. Mine is grey too.

And then there was the gal whose diamond had a yellow look when she was at home. Garry asked her if her ceilings were painted beige,.... And he was right!! Her ceilings were painted beige.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

This is an old thread.
There has been lots of interest in this topic over the years, so I thought I would pick one of these and recycle it.

Yesterday we went over to Tasmania in a plane (one of my old apprentices asked me open his new store

).

I took these photo''s or Drena''s diamonds and the sparkle''s they cast inside the plane.
You can seee with the shades down in difuse lighting the diamonds are very bright - but in direct sunlight in the inset shot - the 3ct stone is quite dark.

More interesting is the effect of lots of very small sparkles from the 5 1/4 to 1/2ct stone ring on the left - compared to the few very large flashes from the 3.15ct stone. to take these shots I lowered 1 shade right down, and the other was only open enough to throw the sunlight directly onto the rings (1 at a time). Note the direct reflection off the table in the lower left of the top right photo.

So you can see that if you were looking at the big stone from the direction of any one of those big flashes - you could not see all of the fire - you can only see that part that is able to squeeze into your pupil.

Now, lesson II:
Your pupil is very narrow when there is lots of light (like when all the shades are open in bright sunlight, or you are outdoors on a bright sunny day). So there is a smaller target for the fire to aim at.
When you draw the shades in relative darkness your pupil gets wider - then you can see more of the spectral colors (this is partly why we see more fire in diamonds in a dimmly lit restaruant).

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Now here is some more:

This is a very close up photo (about 12 inches away, with the flash providing most of the light) of the Aurora Collection in the Smithsonian strong room while they were preparing the collection to go off to London.
Since the flash is the only source providing the "sparkles" and most of the sparkles are refracted sparkles - only a few easily identified sparkles are direct reflections off the table- we can see how few sparkles we can get from each single light source. Since the sun is a very small (very bright) distant light source - it only makes that part of the stone that is returning light to us appaer bright. So the rest of the stone (see Drena''s ring showing the dark diamond in the inset in the photo on previous post) appears dark - almost black.

I will now post the Aurora collection in the office style lighting without flash - note many of the stones that appear dark in this flash shot are actually quite a lot paler in the fluoro flood lighting.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Here is the Aurora Collection in office lighting - note how much lighter the diamonds appear.
The previous photo shows how in spot light the body color of the diamond is darker; just as all diamonds are in direct sunlight.

 

[valeria101]

OUps... I've been writing this while Garry was posting his and missed the vintage nature of the post too...

Date: 3/2/2004 9:21:43 PM
Author: HWin

Sunlight is pure white light (all colors of the visible spectrum).

N'ah... there is no need to obsess that H is not D and hence it has t be muddy, murky and generally suspicious

C'mon! That diamond has nothing to hide.

Someone took a great picture of glare that may fit your description. It has nothing to do with the color of stone of course.

Does this look familiar?

 

[aljdewey]

..

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/25/2005 11:57:19 PM
Author: Garry H (Cut Nut)



Yesterday we went over to Tasmania in a plane (one of my old apprentices asked me open his new store

).

I took these photo''s or Drena''s diamonds and the sparkle''s they cast inside the plane.

How much time do you spend not thinking of diamonds and light ?


... not that my morning coffee is bad reading these, just wondering.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I am waiting for a big breakthrough (aha, Eureka!) Ana, then I can sit under an olive tree witha glass of wine in an Italian villa and stop thinking about sparkles.

Did these photo''s help anyone?

 

[Patty]

Gary, your airplane photos are a great example of how a diamond looks in direct sunlight as opposed to diffuse light.

Maybe you should start a separate thread for them?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I am thinking some video''s would be more helpful

 

[MissGotRocks]

Thanks - it is helpful. I have noticed this same sort of thing in my car or in a room with skylights.

Just for grins - what are the specs on the 3.15 stone? It is really beautiful - I love it set with the baguettes!

 

[Lynn B]

Garry,
Thanks for the photos. I think that will be very helpful to newbies who get a little disappointed (or think something is wrong with their ideal-cut stones!) when they go gray and "dark" in bright sunshine. Good job, mate!

Lynn

 

[valeria101]

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 11/26/2005 6:41:11 PM
Author: Patty
Gary, your airplane photos are a great example of how a diamond looks in direct sunlight as opposed to diffuse light.

Maybe you should start a separate thread for them?

Patty I think this thread is OK because it is the easiest to find in a search.

I made one of my first ever movies to show this sun light effect - it is title "the conservatory" in the brand new video section - the link to video''s is at the top of the forum sections