Color comparison; branded of same color very dark

[newringgirl70]

My husband is buying me an engagement-like ring. I went to the local jeweler after doing a lot of reading on this site to look at diamonds. I''ve been looking online for months, so I kind of know that color is pretty important to me. I looked at the branded Heartstar diamond, and the salesperson showed me a comparison trade-in stone that was non-branded...both H in color, both SI1, the branded .64 CW, non-branded .77 CW. The branded definitely looked larger than the non-branded, even though the CW was lower. BUT, for the same color, the Heartstar appeared very dark and sparkled very blue. The other diamond was so much whiter. I was embarrassed to tell the salesperson that the whiter diamond was more appealing to me. Why would the less brilliantly cut diamond look so much whiter? She also pulled out two other Heartstars and they both looked darker as well...one was even an F, but the non-branded, trade-in H looked whiter. I didn''t ask about the fluorescence, so maybe this was a factor, but I''m a little perplexed. If anyone has any ideas, I''d appreciate it.

 

[whatmeworry]

what kind of lighting did you compare it in? Different lighting setups will favor different cut styles.

 

[newringgirl70]

they were all lying next to each other in a white indented tray under store lighting, which I''m guessing is fluorescent. there was some natural daylight coming from the windows in the store, and it is a sunny day, but we were a good 20 feet from the windows.