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H color appears yellow?

logitech24

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 30, 2012
Messages
3
So I'll try to make this short. My g/f has given me some guidance on rings she likes, giving me tips on the 4 C's important to her etc. She said that any color would work, as there is no way to tell the difference unless it is compared side by side with another diamond (or white surface). I research this and find a website that agrees. So I buy a J color diamond online and instantly notice the color. It is on channel set setting with "whiter" diamonds behind it. So that ring is on the way back for a refund.

I purchased a pretty similar ring (same channel set), adjusting some settings to get it in my price range, and picked up an H color. I consulted with "advisers" at Blue Nile and they assured me H would not be able to be seen by the naked eye. I get it today and instantly notice yellow. Am I just seeing things? Am I just wanting to see yellow? To me it doesn't matter the size or cut if the first thing I see is yellow.

Is there a way to test my theory that this H has yellow in it?
 
See my avatar? That's an H. And it's not yellow at all.
Was your H graded by GIA or AGS?
 
Who graded the H?

Do you have beige walls? An orange or yellow shirt on? Diamonds reflect color you could just be seeing a lot of reflection depending on the surroundings. Take it outside on a sunny day naked and look at it, then cover your hand so the light is indirect and look at it. Then check it out everywhere else.
 
GIA did the grading. I do have beige walls, hopefully that is my problem. Thank you for the replies.
 
I have an ideal cut I colored stone, and our apartment walls were yellow and my office walls are a tannish brown...I thought my stone was tinted till I was in a restaurant with pink walls and noticed I was rocking a pink diamond. We recently moved and I seriously chose a new wall color. And now all is well :). So hopefully it is just your walls! If the cut quality is good (eg excellent/ideal) it should be pretty white!
 
I agree with the others. I have an H and find it to be quite white. No hint of yellow at all.
 
The Nordstroms cafe here is a beige hell. My F (GIA) looks like a J in there, no joke. I have a teal wall behind my bed. I highly recommend it for diamond viewing.
 
it may be the channel set smaller diamonds in the band contrasting with the central diamond? Channel set diamonds can appear whiter especially if the metal (ie the white gold or platinum) running parallel to the stones is newly polished. Also multiple smaller diamonds have more facets so can look whiter too. Maybe if the diamonds on the band are prong/bead set not channel set it may look different. Given of course it is an ideal/excellent cut H.
 
Is it a round cut?
 
It is princess cut
 
I think princess cuts supposedly show more color than ideal cut rounds. I think it'll depend on how color sensitive she is.
 
OP- sadly, not all H's are H's are H's... if I'm not mistaken, there are high H's and low H's (as well as other colors). Hopefully yours is a high H that is reflecting something in the background?
 
Different people have different sensitivities for color. While I agree with the other posters that the stone may be picking up some tints from the environment, it is also possible that you are simply more color sensitive than most. It is quite common to read that differences in color under H, or I, or even J are pretty much imperceptible to the naked eye, however they are graded as they are for a reason.

As a point of note, my husband is a dentist who does a lot of cosmetic and restorative work, and so spends a good portion of his work days comparing and contrasting a billion shades of white. When we were shopping for diamonds we learned that he was very color sensitive, likely for this reason. He can pick out vagaries in color, and we were looking at ideal colored rounds. For this reason we ended up getting a stone in the colorless range.

There was a thread on here a while ago that suggested that most e-rings walking around are very low color due to the grading discrepancies with some labs and what tends to be sold at most b & m stores. I think that an H is still probably way above average (assuming that it's a GIA or AGS H), and that most people would be hard pressed to pick out a tint in it. Still, maybe your eyes are especially skilled at this task! Just my $.02. Good luck!!
 
I think there's only one way to find out. Try looking at the stone in different conditions, with different color walls, outside, etc. If it still looks yellow to you, perhaps you're just that color-sensitive and need to go higher in color. My AGS H looks quite yellow in the office to me, where the walls are yellow-ish. The walls in my apartment are mostly bluish-gray and it looks great, with not a hint of yellow.
 
Some people are more sensitive to color than others. You may be one of those people. You might want to stay in the colorless range, versus near colorless range.
 
We have a GIA H, a GIA D, an AGS E and and a GIA F.
I can definitely see more body color in the H, especially a side view.
It's only a little warmth but it's not my imagination.
It is definitely there.
And it is there in every environment and lighting, especially if it is next to a higher-colored diamond.

I suspect if we didn't also have a D, an E and an F the H's color would be less noticeable to us.

Another important factor some people don't really acknowledge ... DEF & Gs are very expensive and you can get a lot more diamond with an H, and even if you can detect the warmth of an H, or any grade, it may still be the right diamond for you, all things considered.
People vary.
Some want to see no color.
Some don't mind a little or a lot of color for the extra size/clarity/cut it gives them for their budget.
Some say they actually prefer some color especially in certain cuts.

Just because the market has determined D is the most expensive color you don't have to buy into higher color being better; you can think for yourself.
 
I think it's the reflection - because my E can look tinted in some lighting and outside it reflects the blue sky a bit!
 
bem3231|1341070616|3226553 said:
He can pick out vagaries in color, and we were looking at ideal colored rounds. For this reason we ended up getting a stone in the colorless range.!

Whoops - I meant to say, of course, that we were looking at ideal CUT round brilliants.
 
Are the diamonds in the channel set band princess or round? Are the channel set diamonds H colour or higher, like E/F?
An H ideal round centre stone should face up white (not as icey as a D but white). I think princess cuts show more colour...not sure if an H princess faces up yellow though?...Again a princess H against channel set rounds in a higher colour, say E/F...may contrast. Channel sets dont show the diamonds aswell as prong set bands...just my thoughts.
 
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