How warm would you go?

[Kelli]

Just out of curiosity, if you were looking for a nice and warm "candlelight glowing" oec or mine cut, how low in the color range would you go?

 

[Gypsy]

No floor for me. I guess if I didn''t want too much yellow I''d stay above T. I''m sure other''s would stay higher though.

 

[JulieN]

I guess I''d look for something M-R?

 

[ericad]

How much tint from the side are you ok with? I would say K-M generally speaking, but each stone is different and you can likely go even lower depending on the particular diamond. I have personally owned 2 M''s - one faced up very lemony yellow to the point that I was often asked if it''s a yellow diamond, and the other faces up very white for an M, with that lovely ivory tint I think you''re seeking (shows typical M body color from the side).

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

i dont really mind any color at all. it all depends on the stone and how i plan on setting it. that said, for any kind of chunky cut i prefer color, anything j and above!

 

[Burk]

I agree with ericad that it will depend on the stone. I have an L OEC and it is *perfect* for me. I love the lower-color old cuts.

 

[Circe]

I don''t think that I have a bottom-most limit for color, period ... but if I were trying to fit the "candlelit glowing" description, I''d define it as something that looks creamy by the flicker of flame, possibly warmer by daylight. For that, I''d call an O as a safe bet, tho as always, I suppose it would depend on the cut of the individual stone.

 

[LGK]

K-L-M-N is what I''d target, and if something comes up that''s lower but otherwise perfect, I''d consider that too on a case by case basis. That''s my favorite range; not actually yellow face up, but a nice soft warm color. Yummy! Though I love that color range, I am not a huge fan of true fancy yellows- much below N/O starts looking too truly yellow to my eye. I like the off-whiteness of the KLMN range a lot, though.

However, if you like yellows, then I''d definitely consider lower. Anything lower than N/O will definitely look slightly but noticeably cream/yellow faceup I think. Personally I like the silvery/steely/warm look you get right before that. You''ll see a hint of yellow from the side with KLMN, but not so much face up in a good cut.

 

[swingirl]

No limit here. It just would depend on the stone and the cut. Then I would put it in a setting that enhances the color.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/13/2009 3:50:42 AM
Author: swingirl
No limit here. It just would depend on the stone and the cut. Then I would put it in a setting that enhances the color.

No limit either.

 

[strmrdr]

In candlelight it would take a full OP brown to see any color as you would see the color of the light not the diamond.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 2/13/2009 3:12:12 AM
Author: LittleGreyKitten
K-L-M-N is what I''d target, and if something comes up that''s lower but otherwise perfect, I''d consider that too on a case by case basis. That''s my favorite range; not actually yellow face up, but a nice soft warm color. Yummy! Though I love that color range, I am not a huge fan of true fancy yellows- much below N/O starts looking too truly yellow to my eye. I like the off-whiteness of the KLMN range a lot, though.

However, if you like yellows, then I''d definitely consider lower. Anything lower than N/O will definitely look slightly but noticeably cream/yellow faceup I think. Personally I like the silvery/steely/warm look you get right before that. You''ll see a hint of yellow from the side with KLMN, but not so much face up in a good cut.

I agree with all of this - however, I''m looking forward to finding out what my new oec is - I''m guessing N or lower, but I still like it regardless.
Ultimately, it all depends on the stone.
Personally I prefer the soft ivory whites of the J-M range in most stones - yummy!

 

[Rockit]

I''ve got diamonds that range all up and down the "alphabet" and I enjoy them all for different reasons. And, I agree with what has been said, it definitely depends on each individual diamond. If I had to generalize, and I were looking for "warm" but not "yellow," I''m very fond of L color. Especially when set in yellow or rose gold. It is both soft and glowy, can appear relatively colorless when worn alone, and is very flattering to my particular skin tone. When given a choice, I actually wear some L-color pieces more often than my high-color stones. But, again, given the right diamond, ANY color is fine, especially beautiful old cushions, OECs and OMCs. The fact that they were cut to maximize their fire when times were generally "darker" (literally) makes their lower colors less of an issue altogether...

 

[purrfectpear]

Having looked at a lot of old cut diamonds, I''m going to say "O".

I love them beyond O, but then you are crossing past "candlelit" and into "pale yellow". Beautiful still, but not really candlelit.

 

[Kelli]

Thanks everyone I guess I referred to it as "candlelight glow" because I''ve heard them described that way a few times. I love all the warm colors I see. but I don''t think I''d mind "pale yellow" either. Maybe I''ll just get one in every color to compare.

 

[HeartingDiamonds]

Date: 2/13/2009 10:37:39 AM
Author: Kelli
Thanks everyone I guess I referred to it as ''candlelight glow'' because I''ve heard them described that way a few times. I love all the warm colors I see. but I don''t think I''d mind ''pale yellow'' either. Maybe I''ll just get one in every color to compare.

Atta girl!

Not much to add here, other than to agree with the advise you received above and of course, key here is to see the piece in person, if that''s feasible. We have seen Q/R stones face up like a J/K, and M/Ns face like K/Ls.....

 

[purrfectpear]

Date: 2/13/2009 11:01:37 AM
Author: HeartingDiamonds

Atta girl!

Not much to add here, other than to agree with the advise you received above and of course, key here is to see the piece in person, if that''s feasible. We have seen Q/R stones face up like a J/K, and M/Ns face like K/Ls.....

I think we''ve all seen stones that face up much whiter than they are graded, but a Q that looks like a J? That I''d love to see...got any pics? Would that be looks like a GIA J, or a EGL J

 

[ericad]

Happy to oblige.

 

[purrfectpear]

Very cool. Now why was it graded a Q, and by whom? Even bottom up it doesn''t look like it could be hiding that much color?

 

[ericad]

This was a great learning experience for us.

We purchased the stone as a J/K. It was mounted at the time so we unmounted the stone and it was graded a K/L by an independent third party jeweler. It was then subsequently re-graded by another independent party (known by us to be very strict in his grading) as an M. It was then sent off to GIA and came back a Q/R - we were floored!

This was a really valuable lesson for us, which illustrated just how subjective grading can be. 3 different sets of trained eyes, 3 different results.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 2/13/2009 4:03:39 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 2/13/2009 3:50:42 AM

Author: swingirl

No limit here. It just would depend on the stone and the cut. Then I would put it in a setting that enhances the color.

No limit either.

Same here. Stone by stone basis.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 2/13/2009 2:16:06 PM
Author: ericad
This was a great learning experience for us.


We purchased the stone as a J/K. It was mounted at the time so we unmounted the stone and it was graded a K/L by an independent third party jeweler. It was then subsequently re-graded by another independent party (known by us to be very strict in his grading) as an M. It was then sent off to GIA and came back a Q/R - we were floored!


This was a really valuable lesson for us, which illustrated just how subjective grading can be. 3 different sets of trained eyes, 3 different results.

Love it. I choose my eyes over a lab report any day.

Very interesting E!

eta: I'd dislike paying for a K when I could "prove" lower color with a lab report.

 

[ericad]

Date: 2/13/2009 2:22:40 PM
Author: coatimundi

Date: 2/13/2009 2:16:06 PM

Author: ericad

This was a great learning experience for us.



We purchased the stone as a J/K. It was mounted at the time so we unmounted the stone and it was graded a K/L by an independent third party jeweler. It was then subsequently re-graded by another independent party (known by us to be very strict in his grading) as an M. It was then sent off to GIA and came back a Q/R - we were floored!



This was a really valuable lesson for us, which illustrated just how subjective grading can be. 3 different sets of trained eyes, 3 different results.

Love it. I choose my eyes over a lab report any day.

Very interesting E!


eta: I''d dislike paying for a K when I could ''prove'' lower color with a lab report.

Indeed - therein lies a portion of that "learning experience" I was talking about, lol.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 2/13/2009 3:29:47 PM
Author: ericad

Indeed - therein lies a portion of that ''learning experience'' I was talking about, lol.

 

[purrfectpear]

Date: 2/13/2009 2:16:06 PM
Author: ericad
This was a great learning experience for us.

We purchased the stone as a J/K. It was mounted at the time so we unmounted the stone and it was graded a K/L by an independent third party jeweler. It was then subsequently re-graded by another independent party (known by us to be very strict in his grading) as an M. It was then sent off to GIA and came back a Q/R - we were floored!

This was a really valuable lesson for us, which illustrated just how subjective grading can be. 3 different sets of trained eyes, 3 different results.

How totally weird.

I wear a L (looks like a J), and also an M (looks like an M

) and both show some color face up. Your J/K/L looks very white, yet flipped over GIA thinks it suddenly looks like a Q/R

I could flip both my L and M over and no one would mistake it for a Q master stone. I''m floored with you. Someone at GIA smoked the wacky weed at lunch hour that day.

Just curious but unmounted was there any color banding? Like it was darker at the lower pavillions? I''m at a loss to understand how they went from even a L to a Q?

 

[kcoursolle]

For an older stone I would easily go into the K/L range, and for modern cuts for an e-ring the H/I range. On the other hand for older cuts I would also love anything lower than the S/T range.

 

[Kelli]

So then how many of you would like an older stone that was actually yellow looking, like P or lower, without getting into the fancy colors? Would you set it differently?

The reason I''m asking is that I''ve seen some really low colors at different places online. I love the price tag they carry, and they look so pretty in the pictures. Do those colors still have the fire and brilliance that the whiter ones do, assuming the cut is good, or do they not sparkle as much because they''re "darker"?

 

[Kelli]

Btw ericad that stone is beautiful! But to me it really doesn''t look warm at all. I think I must be the least color sensitive person out there.

 

[ericad]

Date: 2/13/2009 5:20:44 PM
Author: purrfectpear

Date: 2/13/2009 2:16:06 PM

Author: ericad

This was a great learning experience for us.


We purchased the stone as a J/K. It was mounted at the time so we unmounted the stone and it was graded a K/L by an independent third party jeweler. It was then subsequently re-graded by another independent party (known by us to be very strict in his grading) as an M. It was then sent off to GIA and came back a Q/R - we were floored!


This was a really valuable lesson for us, which illustrated just how subjective grading can be. 3 different sets of trained eyes, 3 different results.

How totally weird.


I wear a L (looks like a J), and also an M (looks like an M

) and both show some color face up. Your J/K/L looks very white, yet flipped over GIA thinks it suddenly looks like a Q/R

I could flip both my L and M over and no one would mistake it for a Q master stone. I''m floored with you. Someone at GIA smoked the wacky weed at lunch hour that day.


Just curious but unmounted was there any color banding? Like it was darker at the lower pavillions? I''m at a loss to understand how they went from even a L to a Q?

No color banding - just the warmth you would expect to see in the body of a lower colored stone (it definitely did show tint from the side). As to whether the individual at GIA who graded the stone a Q/R was smoking anything special - well I can''t speculate, lol

I will say that we were shocked - but in the end, it didn''t matter. The buyer got a stunning J/K facing diamond at a Q/R price tag and the GIA report did not diminish her love of the stone one bit.

 

[grapegravity]

Date: 2/13/2009 7:33:54 PM
Author: Kelli
So then how many of you would like an older stone that was actually yellow looking, like P or lower, without getting into the fancy colors? Would you set it differently?


The reason I''m asking is that I''ve seen some really low colors at different places online. I love the price tag they carry, and they look so pretty in the pictures. Do those colors still have the fire and brilliance that the whiter ones do, assuming the cut is good, or do they not sparkle as much because they''re ''darker''?

Personally, I like an older stone that was actually yellow looking

I think it adds character to the older stones.

I would set it with a more antique-looking setting and still set with white gold just like all my other rings...

And as for all your other questions, I cannot answer until I receive my s-t beauty and compare the sparkles to my whiter diamonds...