Does setting a stone change its color?

[rockabee]

I''ve heard that setting stones in the F-I range in plat/wg raises the perceived color of that stone vs. having the stone as a stand alone. Is this true? If so, is there some rule of thumb about how much it raises the color?

Also, does it make a differene in perceived color if the setting allows more or less light through the side of the stone (i.e., a 4 prong vs a setting where sides of diamond are more covered)?

 

[Todd Gray]

The color of the metal (prongs, bezel, etc.) which touches the diamond can have an affect upon the visible perception of color grade, usually about one color grade... For this reason, diamonds in the higher color grades are usually set with white metal and those in the warmer tones are often set with yellow gold, to enhance the natural body color of the diamond or gem.

 

[jet2ks]

Date: 11/16/2009 2:02:08 PM
Author:rockabee
I''ve heard that setting stones in the F-I range in plat/wg raises the perceived color of that stone vs. having the stone as a stand alone. Is this true? If so, is there some rule of thumb about how much it raises the color?

Also, does it make a differene in perceived color if the setting allows more or less light through the side of the stone (i.e., a 4 prong vs a setting where sides of diamond are more covered)?

A well cut diamond pulls light in and reflects it back out the crown, so covering the sides of the diamond i.e. bezel setting will not change anything vs. a 4 prong.

 

[Rockdiamond]

IN my experience, a full bezel will change the brilliance of any stone.
No matter how well cut, light entering through the girdle has an effect on the face up.


I agree with Todd that colorless stones are best set in white metal, light yellows and deeper yellows in yellow gold.
I have heard a theory that white metal on light yellow diamonds increases perceived color due to the contrast wit the metal- but in practice we''ve found that is not the case.

rockabee- in terms of a specific stone, and increasing the perceived color- there''s a lot of factors involved.
Some D-E-F stones do look whiter after setting others do not.
The factors include the cut of the stone, and the manner in which it is set.

 

[rockabee]

Date: 11/16/2009 3:07:15 PM
Author: Rockdiamond
IN my experience, a full bezel will change the brilliance of any stone.
No matter how well cut, light entering through the girdle has an effect on the face up.


I agree with Todd that colorless stones are best set in white metal, light yellows and deeper yellows in yellow gold.
I have heard a theory that white metal on light yellow diamonds increases perceived color due to the contrast wit the metal- but in practice we''ve found that is not the case.

rockabee- in terms of a specific stone, and increasing the perceived color- there''s a lot of factors involved.
Some D-E-F stones do look whiter after setting others do not.
The factors include the cut of the stone, and the manner in which it is set.

thanks everyone for your responses. Does a full bezel improve the brilliance or decrease it?

is there a cutoff color, above which you go white and below which you go yellow metal?

assuming an ideal cut rb stone, is the key to improving color in a colorless/near colorless stone the amount of white metal touching and surrounding the stone?

 

[HVVS]

Whether you pick yellow or white metal depends on how you want the ring to look. There are plenty of genuine antique and "vintage" diamond rings that have a light yellow center diamond in the say L to P range and the smaller diamonds are all "white" as in H/I color or better. There''s no mistaking that the center is light yellow tinted. The first time I saw rings like that, I thought they looked less than impressive. But now I like them. Blue sapphires tend to complement or wash some of the yellow tint; emeralds or other green stones will play up the yellow.

And I''ve seen old rings with a K through N color diamond set in yellow gold, and they look great, too. What I don''t like is YG with bright white pave or side stones, and the center is J or lower color. That''s three colors fighting with each other, to me. (the YG, the bright white side stones, and the tinted center diamond)

Some diamonds have a slight brown, gray, or yellow tint that rather dictates whether they look best in YG or white metal. I have a light yellow diamond that I had set in white for that reason. YG just wasn''t as flattering to it.

 

[Rockdiamond]

You''re welcome rockabee! ( kewl name btw!)

In my experience a bezel will diminish slightly the brilliance of any stone- due to blocking light entering through the girdle.
Still, many people choose a bezel as there are other design aspects that make up for this.

Cutoff color: We''ve set M-N- and even darker stones in white metal. Doing so is generally best for someone not wanting to see the color in the stone.
Setting an M into yellow can sometimes make it look like a fancy color!
So, we don;t have a strict cutoff- it''s more about what the recipient wishes to see in their ring.
A colorless or a tinted diamond.

In terms of an Ideal Cut stone- basically the same rules apply.
Maximum brilliance is achieve by using a setting that allows a lot of light to flow in.
Making the stone look as white as possible should involve the use of white metal.

JMO as others may have differing views

 

[Karl_K]

my 2c
disclaimer: I am not very color sensitive unless I really concentrate on it.
To me the color of the setting doesn''t make much difference in diamond color.
I set(just placed not actually mounted) a 1ct D G and J in white and gold prongs.
Didn''t make a difference to me didn''t see any color in the D or G and a very light tint in the J in both colors.
Then with an E and J 1/2 ct I didn''t see the tint in the J but the setting made no difference.

To me a bezel does not make any difference in brilliance face up on a well cut diamond RB but makes a little difference when tilted or viewed off axis. Not really anything to worry about I love bezels.

Again that is just what I see.

 

[D&T]

Date: 11/16/2009 5:54:07 PM
Author: Karl_K
my 2c
disclaimer: I am not very color sensitive unless I really concentrate on it.
To me the color of the setting doesn''t make much difference in diamond color.
I set(just placed not actually mounted) a 1ct D G and J in white and gold prongs.
Didn''t make a difference to me didn''t see any color in the D or G and a very light tint in the J in both colors.
Then with an E and J 1/2 ct I didn''t see the tint in the J but the setting made no difference.

To me a bezel does not make any difference in brilliance face up on a well cut diamond RB but makes a little difference when tilted or viewed off axis. Not really anything to worry about I love bezels.

Again that is just what I see.

Agreed.

I have bezelled and I have prong set the same exact diamond and the brillance does NOT change, however, I do notice that the edge to edge sparkle is affected, even at the slightest edge of the diamond the light will hit and sparkle factor happen. However if you bezel, you lose this part and essentially cover up that portion of it so it could give you the illusion of the brillance being affected becuase of the edge not getting hit with light, Hope that makes sense

 

[Rockdiamond]

Date: 11/16/2009 5:58:05 PM
Author: D&T

Date: 11/16/2009 5:54:07 PM
Author: Karl_K
my 2c
disclaimer: I am not very color sensitive unless I really concentrate on it.
To me the color of the setting doesn''t make much difference in diamond color.
I set(just placed not actually mounted) a 1ct D G and J in white and gold prongs.
Didn''t make a difference to me didn''t see any color in the D or G and a very light tint in the J in both colors.
Then with an E and J 1/2 ct I didn''t see the tint in the J but the setting made no difference.

To me a bezel does not make any difference in brilliance face up on a well cut diamond RB but makes a little difference when tilted or viewed off axis. Not really anything to worry about I love bezels.

Again that is just what I see.

Agreed.

I have bezelled and I have prong set the same exact diamond and the brillance does NOT change, however, I do notice that the edge to edge sparkle is affected, even at the slightest edge of the diamond the light will hit and sparkle factor happen. However if you bezel, you lose this part and essentially cover up that portion of it so it could give you the illusion of the brillance being affected becuase of the edge not getting hit with light, Hope that makes sense

That''s a much better way to describe it D&T.
I never meant to slight the design, as I also love bezels!

 

[LGK]

I just had my M color Old European Cut put into a bezel and I didn''t see any noticeable decrease in performance.

I definitely see a difference in color, when I changed the setting. I went from having it set in a halo with J colored melee and bright-white rhodium plated 18K white gold, to an antique platinum setting with no competing melee. The perceived color of the stone changed immensely- before, it looked off white to a casual glance, now it just looks white face up. The change in perceived color is striking- pretty much everyone who knows me well enough to notice I reset it, also commented on how much the color looks different; I know it was the first thing I noticed. The greyer look to the antique platinum is definitely a lot more flattering than the super-white rhodium plated white gold.

My experience is that is the most flattering way to set pretty much any stone you want to look it''s whitest- platinum, no side stones. For a lower colored stone, I wouldn''t set it any other way after seeing the difference. For a colorless stone I doubt it would make any difference at all.

Yellow gold, especially yellow gold prongs, always adds color to a center stone to my eye. On the other hand, though, it''s hard to judge the color of any stone set in yellow gold to me- they all look slightly off white. It''s possible a D color ideal cut wouldn''t, because though I see tons of yellow gold & diamond jewelry every day, ideal cuts don''t show up in estate/antique jewelry, so I can''t say I''ve run across one set in yellow gold ever.

 

[Diamond Explorer]

I think the mid-range of near colorless (H-I) benefit the most from setting in white metal. F-G's should be unquestionably white any way you look at it, and J's always have a slight hint of warmth to me even when set. When loose, H-I's show a slight tint in profile, and this generally disappears to me after the diamond is placed in a platinum or white-gold setting.