Grey diamond in every type of lighting

[Little1]

Hi everyone,

My aunt recently was kind enough to give me one of her pendants for my birthday. She doesn''t have the papers for it, so I don''t have the stats on it. However, I notice that it is a light grey in every type of lighting. It''s darker than my engagement ring, which is an "I" colour under the gemscan grading in canada. I was wondering what could be causing this.
I doubt very much it''s an ideal stone, but it does flash gorgeous colours in mall lighting etc.
Is it just a grey diamond? Is there such a thing? Or could it be poorly cut. I don''t notice the dreaded fish-eye I''ve read about on this forum. It''s set it white gold, so maybe it''s the reflection?
I''ve considered taking it to an appraiser, but have reallized that it''s more of a sentimental gift. So the stats aren''t so important to me. I''m just curious because I''ve never seen a grey diamond.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks, Anna

 

[Little1]

Wanted to add: As my aunt can recall it is an SI1 stone, .65, and H in colour.
But again, it''s darker than my I, .74, SI1. So I don''t understand the cause of the greyness.
Thanks!

 

[diamondfan]

An H should not be grey. I have never heard of grey, just black...

 

[strmrdr]

dirt
oil
soap scum

maybe poor cut but im guessing dirt dirt dirt.

Have it professionally cleaned.

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome

Actually it is possible this diamond has a tint to it, although it is more likely it needs a good clean or the cut isn't ideal. Grey or silver is one of the possible tints a diamond can have, yellow and brown being more common from what I understand. When colour grading, the labs don't grade for tint yet according to the experts, unless it is off the colour grade scale etc but to answer your question - yes it is possible to find a " grey" diamond. Also many inclusions in an i2 or i3 can give a grey effect, but I doubt this is the case with yours by the sound of it. An H should be very white - it could have a very slight grey tint to it, but I think it is probably the cut making it look dark. For a pendant though I am sure it is still very nice!

 

[diagem]

Date: 6/4/2006 10:03:06 PM
Author:Little1
Hi everyone,

My aunt recently was kind enough to give me one of her pendants for my birthday. She doesn''t have the papers for it, so I don''t have the stats on it. However, I notice that it is a light grey in every type of lighting. It''s darker than my engagement ring, which is an ''I'' colour under the gemscan grading in canada. I was wondering what could be causing this.
I doubt very much it''s an ideal stone, but it does flash gorgeous colours in mall lighting etc.
Is it just a grey diamond? Is there such a thing? Or could it be poorly cut. I don''t notice the dreaded fish-eye I''ve read about on this forum. It''s set it white gold, so maybe it''s the reflection?
Could be a grey diamond, they do exist. there are fancy grey diamonds.
I''ve considered taking it to an appraiser, but have reallized that it''s more of a sentimental gift. So the stats aren''t so important to me. I''m just curious because I''ve never seen a grey diamond.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks, Anna

 

[Lorelei]

Actually DiaGem, you reminded me of some greys I have seen - here is a link to some.

http://www.fancydiamonds.net/Grey_Diamonds/

 

[diagem]

Date: 6/5/2006 3:51:26 AM
Author: Lorelei
Welcome

Actually it is possible this diamond has a tint to it, although it is more likely it needs a good clean or the cut isn''t ideal. Grey or silver is one of the possible tints a diamond can have, yellow and brown being more common from what I understand. When colour grading, the labs don''t grade for tint yet according to the experts, unless it is off the colour grade scale etc but to answer your question - yes it is possible to find a '' grey'' diamond. Also many inclusions in an i2 or i3 can give a grey effect, but I doubt this is the case with yours by the sound of it. An H should be very white - it could have a very slight grey tint to it, but I think it is probably the cut making it look dark. For a pendant though I am sure it is still very nice!

Actually Labratories do grade for tint''s, Attached find an example of a GIA report.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/5/2006 3:51:26 AM
Author: Lorelei
Welcome

Grey or silver is one of the possible tints a diamond can have, yellow and brown being more common from what I understand. When colour grading, the labs don''t grade for tint yet according to the experts, unless it is off the colour grade scale etc

Yes thanks DiaGem, I tried to explain that in my previous post but didn''t do it very well. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[widget]

Of course, all this leads to the REALLY important question (

): Is the correct spelling "grey" or "gray"???

I noticed the site Lorelei linked seems to switch back and forth, depending on their mood! (I'd always thought "gray" was a color, and "Grey" a proper name, as in "Lady Jane")

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[diagem]

Date: 6/4/2006 11:55:30 PM
Author: diamondfan
An H should not be grey. I have never heard of grey, just black...

An H color diamond could be based on a tint other than yellow...
You could have an H coloured diamond with a "faint brown/pink tint", i would imagine the same for grey or gray....

You are right Widget.... i dont know which one is the correct one.

 

[Lorelei]

I normally spell " grey" that is the British way of spelling it for colour, my American Husband spells it " gray" for colour.

 

[widget]

Author: Lorelei
I normally spell '' grey'' that is the British way of spelling it for colour, my American Husband spells it '' gray'' for colour.

Ah ha! That''s it! Thanks..

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[Lorelei]

 

[pebbles]

I have a family diamond that appears gray in most lighting conditions as well. My local jeweler told me it was probably due to the not so great cut. The diamond was originally purchased in the early 1960''s from a pawn shop so I have no idea when the diamond was originally cut. it doesn''t have much scintillation but it does seem to have quite a bit of fire.

 

[glitterata]

It's gray in the U.S., grey in Greyt Britain.

A Canadian will have to weigh in on how they spell it there.

(Edited to add: Oooops! Boy was I leight weying in on this spelling question!)

 

[Little1]

Thanks for the info. I''m going to take the diamond in tomorrow to get it clean, and see if that will help.
I dipped it in some windex and a little crud came off, so it sure could use a cleaning.

Regarding, "grey" vs. "gray", I personally use "grey." In Canada, I think both terms are acceptable spellings, much like with a lot of words spelled differently in American and British languages. Sometimes we tend to use the British version and other times the American spelling of a word.