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can you tell a D from an E color?

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H

HMV

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 12, 2006
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I have to decide soon between a D and E colored diamond.

How do you tell a D color from an E colored diamond? Can you tell with the naked eye, and under most lighting conditions?

Is there any way to tell? Can women who compare diamonds, who are likely to be more experienced at such things, at the office pantry tell?

Cos I have seen both diamonds and I can''t tell the D from E (in terms of color)! But I''m a guy who isn''t very sensitive to subtle details so maybe that has something to do with it. I have had people on the internet tell me that E is more "colored" than D and they claim that they can tell! Should I believe them?

I don''t mind getting the D if it is indeed more colorless but if the difference is not visible at all to the experienced eye and under most lighting conditions, then I would get the E as it is bigger.

Thanks!
 
Heck no I cannot tell the difference!!! Neither can 95% of people out there, even when scrutinizing closely. Get the E and don't look back! I have an E and an H....and BOTH are icy white!!!
 
I have a D....and no way, I can''t tell. I''d get the bigger E if all other things were equal.
 
I doubt anyone, no matter how many diamonds they''ve seen or how many cups of coffee they''ve had in the office pantry while looking at other people''s bling, would be able to tell a D from an E, even when they''re side by side. Get the E!
 
Some people (like me
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) can''t tell an E from an F or G, either!
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Have you seen how a color chart is laid out???

The difference between D & E & F is very very small on the chart and the spectrum gets wider and wider when you get to G & H & I & J.

So ... what I'm trying to say is ... even many SUPER high end couture jewelry places (Harry Winston, Van Cleef etc) use "F" color stones, because they are still "colorless" yet more bang (size) for the buck.

F, VS2 is considered a "sweet spot" by many.
 
Date: 9/13/2006 5:32:07 PM
Author: widget
Some people (like me
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) can''t tell an E from an F or G, either!
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Ditto that!
 
Does anyone know where that chart that shows D, E & F so close together on the big scale, and how proportionally bigger the grade ranges are afterwards?

I couldn''t find it in my search?? But KNOW I''ve seen it posted many times here ...
 
You''d be safe with an F, sincerely. No one will be able to look at an E and think, gosh, that''s an E..it would have looked so much better as a D. No way.

Here''s a nice reference on color:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Color/Colorless/

I''d rather have that larger E ANY DAY over the smaller D. And for me personally, I''d rather have an even larger F or G!
 
Go for the E.

I have a very well cut G and I see no tint what so ever, and I can have a picky eye at times.
 
Even *I* could never tell LOL....I even have my 2.14 E (cushion) set next to a .5 F and a .5 G on the other side! can''t tell at all. At first I thought I could...but that was just crazy talk! I certainly can''t....!!!!
 
Date: 9/13/2006 7:28:25 PM
Author: moremoremore
Even *I* could never tell LOL....I even have my 2.14 E (cushion) set next to a .5 F and a .5 G on the other side! can''t tell at all. At first I thought I could...but that was just crazy talk! I certainly can''t....!!!!
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yes, your ring is a perfect example

three6.jpg
 
What a beautiful shot.
 
Shucks! :) (blushing)
 
nope, I can''t tell. Save some money and get the E, or even lower! It will look WHITE!
 
Remember that the brilliance and sparkle of an RB helps to obscure color even more.

Hee hee...here''s an interesting little illustration: my E asscher next to Kristy Darling''s H round brilliant!!!
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Date: 9/13/2006 8:42:39 PM
Author: widget
Remember that the brilliance and sparkle of an RB helps to obscure color even more.

Hee hee...here's an interesting little illustration: my E asscher next to Kristy Darling's H round brilliant!!!
9.gif


widget
Click to expand...
Your point is very valid. Something that I have been noticing is that in places with less that ideal lighting, such as dim or incandescent lighting, the yellow becomes more obvious in diamonds, especially at off angles. I had bought a G since everyone says that near colorless "faces up white", but I like to appreciate a diamond from all sides and it'll spend a lot of time in less than idea lighting. For that reason, I just returned a G colored stone and exchanged it for a E. Now I don't have to worry about the yellow when people aren't looking it at ideal angles and lighting, nor do I have to keep convincing myself that "It'll face up white like a colorless" and I made the right choice.

As far as D or E: I haven't seen any differences except in the color of the returned light. The D is definitely more icey. I love that crisp brilliance of colorless diamonds. D takes it up a notch.
 
Date: 9/13/2006 5:19:26 PM
Author:HMV
I have to decide soon between a D and E colored diamond.


Is there any way to tell? Can women who compare diamonds, who are likely to be more experienced at such things, at the office pantry tell?
Click to expand...

No, they will not be able to tell. The only way they will know the color is E is if they ask. If you are worried about your girl looking like she has a bad color ring, it will not happen with an E color. People almost never ask about what color the stone is. (unless they are PSers !) If they do ask she can be very, very proud to say E color cause that is an outstanding and rare color. It''s not at all like you are buying a second best thing - totally not like that.
 
So you''ve touched on the exact challenge I''m having.

E Vs2

or

D Si1 (with careful eye that the inclusions are not under the table)

All other stats will be of the highest level.

Notes:

1. The stone will be going in a simple full bezel setting

2. I''m thinking of buying the stone from Blue Nile, thus I can''t see the stone ahead of time.

3. She is elegant, sophisticated but HATES bling or showy stuff... she actually doesn''t even wear any rings now.

Your thoughts and advice is appreciated!
 
I limited my search to D-F Vs1/Vs2 since we were buying sight unseen. Now that I have seen more ideal cuts, I know it would have been ok (based on the clean, icy white that I wanted) to expand to G/Si1, and focus on the ideal cut parameters. I ended up with an E/VS2 ideal cut. The inclusions freaked us out at 40x since my original stone was VVS, but I can't begin to see anything clarity-wise. The color is spectacular, and there is no way even a picky, color knowledgable person with great eyesight would see the difference in it and a D without doing a close up jeweler type inspection. It was a lesson learned for us that specs are just specs. Your eyes can't pick up a lot of the nuances.

If I was deciding between E/VS2 and D/SI1, first off, I would go for the best cut and the larger of the two. If those and price are equal, I'd go for the E/VS2. I've always been told you pay a premium for the rarity of the D, not for the looks. I care more about looks than rarity, but everyone is different on that.

Also, even tho you are buying sight unseen from BN, they have a return policy so if you aren't comfortable with what you end up with, you can return it and get something else.
 
IF you can't tell the D from the E then get the E. . .

but if you can tell the E from an F, get an F. . .

but if you can't tell and F from a G, get a G. . .

but if you . . .

I'm being silly but clearly there are other things at play here other than what "you can tell".


There IS a difference between stones one color grade apart.

Whether the difference is enough to make it worth the higher cost . . . only YOU can decide.

That said, some fully informed people STILL want a D IF - even though they know it looks identical to a lesser stone 99.99% of the time to 99.99% of the people.
 
If you want the D because it''s a D, I would say get the D. Otherwise, I would get the E.
 
Can I tell if they are set side by side against a pure white background? Yes. Even mounted. Can I tell if they are set and worn on a finger, even if the fingers are placed side by side. Absolutely not.

If you''re worried if there''s a big difference and the ladies comparing will be able to see a difference, then don''t worry about it. It becomes much harder to tell the difference when set. If I look long enough, I can see the difference, but I need that pure white background to do so. It sounds like you''re just worried that your stone will look more yellow compared to another one when the girls invevitably show off their rings to one another. I wouldn''t worry then.

If your future bride wants a D and you''re trying to pass of an E to her, I wouldn''t do it. Girls don''t take too kindly to lying. It''s best to persuade her to consider an E upfront than to lie about it. My wife wanted a D. Her culture kinda expected it. Can she tell the difference? Absolutely not. But it wouldn''t be "mind clean" to her and that mattered to her even tho no one else would have known if she didn''t tell them.
 
I am VERY new to this forum (this is my second post!) but I just went through what you are going through. My first ering was a J in color. I can't tell you how many compliments I got because of it's fire. I NEVER thought it looked "off" color. Last week I had to choose between a 1.75 D SI2 and a 1.75 H VS1. While the D was eye clean I just couldn't go with the inclusions - I worried how the stone would look if it were a little dirty. Anyway, side by side, I absolutely could not tell the difference in color. I've owned a one carat diamond now for 20 years - women DO NOT compare color (at least not when it is this good). They ABSOLUTELY will notice size and sparkle!! Good luck!!
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I have an F princess cut and can not tell a difference between an D,E,F and even G. I start to notice some color in H''s but they were probably H''s that were closer to I''s.
 
D is to E
like
IF is to VVS1

It is a mind game.

There is no person alive who can tell them apart face up in a ring out of a lab
 
It depends on how many glasses of wine I''ve had.

After about six or so, I can spot a mounted "D" from an "E" 20 feet across the room in dim lighting with complete confidence.
 
Date: 9/17/2006 11:18:53 AM
Author: Richard Sherwood
It depends on how many glasses of wine I''ve had.

After about six or so, I can spot a mounted ''D'' from an ''E'' 20 feet across the room in dim lighting with complete confidence.
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After seven glasses , I can even spot a ''C''.
 
I own a D marquise and a G ideal round and honestly even when I flip them and put them side by side I can just barely see the color difference. Granted I can see that the G has just that tad more color but it''s slight. If all things were equal I''d take a bigger stone and go down in color
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my E marquise with strong blue fluor looks whiter than my D ideal RB! well, maybe not whiter, but it glows so it looks whiter.
 
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