How much of a change to notice a difference in color?

[Dreamer_D]

I have a K color diamond and I am feeling like it has too much tint for my liking

.

I would be willing to live with the tint if this was the big honkin'' 2ct rock that my little heart desires

-- that is a budgetary tradeoff that I am willing to make! But the reality is that I have already reached the size sweet spot at 1.20ct and so will not be getting said honkin'' rock for many many years. So my goal is to get a diamond that I will be happy with *now* at this size.

So I am contemplating an upgrade in color to get a stone that I will love for a while without any nagging doubts about color. I want to maximize the apparent difference in color from my present diamond and also minimize the cost of this change

. So I am looking for the color sweet spot I guess.

Please bear in mind that I am not a newb and so I already know that color is subjective and that I need to see diamonds in person to judge and that no one can make this decision except me

So my question is this: What is the minimum upgrade in color that will both a) look noticably different than my K and b) look like an ICY ICY WHITE DIAMOND

Please elaborate your response if you so choose!

 

[Laila619]

H or I in my opinion...

I have an H and I do not see any tint.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/25/2009 1:24:41 AM
Author: SanDiegoLady
I have to say that I have seen some mighty white looking J & K''s here.. and while I am not looking to upgrade, I''d certainly add to! I would love a K.. I''m not a color freak so icy white or warm makes no difference to me.. and fluoro, absolutely.. as long as my stone wasn''t milky I''d love it. I wouldn''t be purchasing the bigger stone for any resale value anyway!!

Get what makes your heart sing!!

Oh a K with flouro would be great! If I had a couple of diamonds then I too would have some high and some low!

The majority of time my K looks whitey white white, and the cut is phenom. But there are enough times where I don''t like how it looks to make me want sometime less tinted. Also, I had the (mis)fortune of owning an F color stone, which I sold recently, and I really did love that icy whiteness! LOL!

 

[diamondringlover]

H-I is as far as I would go, my Mom has a 2ct OEC and it is a K, from the top it looks white, from the side not so much it shows some yellow tint, that would drive me batty and I am not color sensitive.

 

[Lorelei]

Go check out some G''s Dreamer, if possible AGS0 or you know the proportions to look for with other diamonds!

 

[D&T]

I think you'll be happy with an I and you'll be able to maximize your size as well, I have had a J and I didn't see much of a difference in my J and now K (both no fluoro) so that is off the list, unless if you can find one with slight fluoro even at J then maybe that will work as well.

 

[SparklyOEC]

I''ve also seen alot of J and K color stones on this site that look pretty white. I think that H or I should work for the white that you''re looking for. Good luck in your search.

 

[gemgirl]

I always bought Gs. My e-ring is between an F and a G, my first diamond studs are G VS2s, my five stone all Gs.
Then when I was planning for my funky little halo-ed earrings from GOG, I decided to take the plunge in Hs. If you buy a GIA triple Ex H or one of Brian''s ideal cut AGS Os in an H, my guess is you won''t see any color.

dd, are you trading up with B&L? They''ve added a lot of new stones to their inventory. I wanted a .60pt H VS2 that just came in and someone scooped it up immediately. So now I keeping checking the stones they have listed to see what else might appear. My guess is you won''t see anything in an ideal cut H.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I looked back through some of your threads and found your comparison between the F color pendant and your K ering stone. I''m guessing that a G color stone would put you close enough to the F stone to make you happy and far enough away from the K color to make a big difference.

We all know that color differences are hard to perceive in just a couple of color grades so if I really wanted to do a color upgrade to make a big difference, I''d look at G''s if they are in your price range. Otherwise, you may like the new stone but may not feel that there is enough of a difference to warrant the change.

It all really comes down to dollars and cents and how much we can afford to spend to affect the biggest change possible. I would never want to steer you in the direction of spending more than you could, but if I was going to make a change, I''d try to make it count. Would you be looking for a size increase as well or do you want to stay in the same size category but only go up in color?

 

[vespergirl]

If you''re worried about it, I wouldn''t go below an H.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I traded up from a J to and I and I could see the color difference. I think you would see the color difference just one color up, but I think you would be pretty happy if you
jumped to an I.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I think it largely depends on how sensitive to color you are.

Maybe it's because I used to do a lot of drawing and painting, but I'm pretty sensitive to color and I've found I can see the tint in my F when I'm looking at it from the side (AND it has blue fluoro).

And I have yet to see an I in person where I couldn't see the yellow tint.

 

[Luckyeshe]

I voted for an F. I am fairly color sensitive so I see color pass F. I think to be on the safe side you can go to a G but I think F would be the better choice. Well, that''s my .02!

 

[EHR2009]

Date: 11/25/2009 11:43:36 AM
Author: Luckyeshe
I voted for an F. I am fairly color sensitive so I see color pass F. I think to be on the safe side you can go to a G but I think F would be the better choice. Well, that''s my .02!

Ditto. But I am also very color sensitive, and I am used to looking at my D. An F looks the same to me from a distance, but when I compare it side by side to my D, I can see the tint. Good luck!

 

[Erinleigh]

I''m fairly colour sensitive, but my G looks as white as can be to me
That being said, I voted for H, because I think that going from a K to a G/H would definitely give you that colour change you''re looking for!

 

[Kelli]

I answered I, but I''m not overly color sensitive so H might be safer.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Wow thanks everyone! haha... it looks like there is a clear majority suggesting G-H, which is funny because that is the swet spot we always recommend to people in rocky talky looking for diamonds that won''t show any color

I suspected that this was the answer but I was curious to see what everyone thought.

Laila Do you plean to stick with an H for your upgrade too? Part of my desire to go up in color is that I would like the option to halo my stone and I don''t really want a contrast between my diamond and the melee!

diamondrnglover Yes, that is where I see the most tint. But he warmth is always there too and while in many contexts it is lovely, I think there are some places where I am just not wild about it. Since it is my only stone I want to be wild about it all the time!

Lorelei I think G would be perfect, totally mind clean KWIM? I just wonder if I could eek a little more size out of an H (there seems to be a price jump between H and G). Logically I know you cannot see the difference between H and G. But illogically it would be nice to have a G. My DH would like me to have a G.

Thanks SparklyOEC!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/25/2009 8:31:45 AM
Author: gemgirl
I always bought Gs. My e-ring is between an F and a G, my first diamond studs are G VS2s, my five stone all Gs.
Then when I was planning for my funky little halo-ed earrings from GOG, I decided to take the plunge in Hs. If you buy a GIA triple Ex H or one of Brian''s ideal cut AGS Os in an H, my guess is you won''t see any color.

dd, are you trading up with B&L? They''ve added a lot of new stones to their inventory. I wanted a .60pt H VS2 that just came in and someone scooped it up immediately. So now I keeping checking the stones they have listed to see what else might appear. My guess is you won''t see anything in an ideal cut H.

Right now I have the option of trading in with either BGD or WF, because my ACA was cut and graded when Brian was at WF. So I am not sure where I will go yet! I am nervous about making the trade because then I lose the *options* I have now!

I''m actually hoping to get an eye clean SI2, which makes things even more challenging!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/25/2009 8:43:57 AM
Author: MissGotRocks
I looked back through some of your threads and found your comparison between the F color pendant and your K ering stone. I''m guessing that a G color stone would put you close enough to the F stone to make you happy and far enough away from the K color to make a big difference.

We all know that color differences are hard to perceive in just a couple of color grades so if I really wanted to do a color upgrade to make a big difference, I''d look at G''s if they are in your price range. Otherwise, you may like the new stone but may not feel that there is enough of a difference to warrant the change.

It all really comes down to dollars and cents and how much we can afford to spend to affect the biggest change possible. I would never want to steer you in the direction of spending more than you could, but if I was going to make a change, I''d try to make it count. Would you be looking for a size increase as well or do you want to stay in the same size category but only go up in color?

This is exaclty my thought!

It would be nice to increase size while I am at it, but not imperitive. At 1.20cts I cannot afford to go up above 1.5cts and anything under that would be a very small change in size. Perceptible, yes, but worth it? I don''t know...

 

[Dreamer_D]

Vesper Thanks for your reply! I love your G, it is my dream diamond in many ways!

luv2sparkle I do think at times that I would be happy with a J. It would be less tinted but I could get a larger size. But then it wouldn''t *feel* like much of a change, KWIM?

MTG, Luckyeshe, EHR You ladies and your D''s and F''s

Good thing I am not so color sensitive or I would never have the big diamond I really want! But I sure do love those D''s and F''s... beautiful!

Thanks Kelli and erinleigh!

 

[MissGotRocks]

Maybe this is a starting point? It basically keeps the size the same, the clarity the same, and goes up to G in color. At least it lets you know what the difference in price is in a K to a G?

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/Whiteflash-ACA-cut-diamond-2199906.htm#

In the large 40x mag picture, I can see some inclusions. Don't know if you'd see these in normal viewing circumstances. Personally, I'ld like to have an eyeclean SI stone with the higher color - if I had to choose one over the other.

 

[risingsun]

I have a G and I don''t see any color in it. Of course, since it is set in a halo, I don''t see the sides

 

[HVVS]

I voted H to be prudent. But in an ideal RB, I think you easily could go to I with a medium to strong blue fluor and it would definitely be white enough face up. You'd see tint from the side, but not very much in a roughly 6.8mm diamond. Nowhere near a K's tint. If it's princess, it'd be a lotta tint from the side, imo, lol.

I in Pt thread

 

[EHR2009]

https://www.pricescope.com/forum/rockytalky/any-top-up-color-comparison-photos-t37981.html

Here is a thread I just found showing a comparison of a D to a K and a D to a G. I actually don''t see much difference between the D and G in these photos. Hope this helps.

 

[shimmer]

Hi Dreamer,

I voted ''H''. I have owned/seen GIA graded F''s (my RB studs), G (sis''s RB ering), and an L (old cushion) as well as AGS graded I (ACA) and now my J cushion. So I haven''t actually seen an H

but it still gets my vote!

I noticed a little bit of tint in my I that sometimes bothered me, so I would stay above it if you want to avoid that possibility. My sis''s G is very very white, absolutely no tint. So G is definitely ''safe'' IMO, but I think H would be fine too. Good luck

 

[that_someone_special]

I voted g--

I have an I stone with G sides and in some lights it looks like night and day! The G''s really shine white in most lights.. I would even say an H is fine.

 

[february2003bride]

Dreamer- My old round 1.33 was a ''J'' with medium Flor and I could sometimes see a tint. Not always, but in certain rooms, so I always blamed it on the warm paint color in that particular room. Now that I have a ''H'' Radiant (which I understand should be less forgiving in color) when in those rooms it shows no color. So it was probably the diamond after all. I compared an ''I'' emerald to my ''H'' radiant when buying it and the Emerald totally showed the tint under various lighting. So I may just be more color sensitive than I realized. Could you find an "I" with florescence? If not, probably a G or an H would be your best bet!

 

[luv2sparkle]

Dreamer, I do think it matters if you are color sensitive. I am not very much. If you like really super white diamonds. I am not a big fan because they look like
CZ to me. But when I put my ring next to a cz that is supposed to be a D color I can see the difference but it doesn''t bother me one whit. How do you feel about that.
Maybe that is the difference.

 

[Skippy123]

DD, I think I know what you are talking about my first studs were ACA J's; they were beautiful but when I went to upgrade I went for I's and you know what I don't see the tint like I did with my J's in certain lighting conditions (not often though). I would like to own another J someday again! I think you would be safest with an H, but go out and look at some stones; that will be the best thing to do. Yay for an upgrade!!!!

 

[jill_s]

DD - I just recently upgraded from a 1.63 J to a 1.97 K. I can *definitely* see the difference between my J and K. I find your post kind of ironic, because I''ve been thinking the exact same thoughts as you over the last 3 months I''ve lived with my K. Like you, this will likely be the size I stay at for a while and I''m thinking of upgrading next for color and then calling it done for a while. When I upgrade again, I plan to go with a J stone. I rarely, if ever, saw a tint in my old J stone - I''m not sure if it''s because the J was in a 6 prong setting and my current stone is in the legato solitaire (like yours) or if it was a high J and this is low K? For me, going to a J is my compromise to stay at this size. Just an FYI, I voted for the I color stone in your poll, because I never saw tint in I stones when I was shopping around.