I or J color?

[jrich]

I cannot decide for the life of me if I should get an I or J colored center stone for my halo ering. The setting is a yellow gold Halo (4 yellow gold prongs) with diamonds around the halo but not the band.

I'm going to go with either an eye clean SI1 or SI2, and either a very good or excellent cut.
Size is the most important to me, but not if my diamond is going to look yellow. Our budget won't allow for an H color, so it is I or J. Is there a difference visually? Because there sure seems to be in price!
From what I have seen and I have done a ton of research, it looks like I can get a 1.1 I or a 1.2 J for about the same price. I have read that around 1.2 is when the diamond starts to look visually bigger than say a 1.0, so was hoping to go with that size.

Which would be best and what does everyone think of a J color in yellow gold? Thanks!!

 

[SC86]

I have a J color center stone with halo in platinum and honestly I don't see much yellowness when it faces up. I have seen it held up against an I color, and there is not much difference to my eye. When I looked at it from the side or against a white piece of paper (before it was set) there was a warm vanilla color to it, but now that it is set, I don't see any yellow. Again, it does not look as white as an H at all, but that didn't matter to me (an H wasn't in our budget either).

Personally, I would go for a bigger size with J color, especially if you are using yellow gold. I'm not extremely color sensitive, so I think you'll need to decide if a J is "mind-clean" for you. Have you seen I's and J's in person and compared them? Good luck!

 

[jrich]

Thank you! Do you have any pictures of your ring? it sounds pretty! I have seen an unmounted J in the store at the mall, and it looked yellow, but then again I dont think it was certified and mine with be GIA.

 

[atp223]

we went through the same issue with my ering over the summer. i was really hoping to be able to go down to a J (with fluorescence) to be able to go bigger within a particular budget. so we had an I and J from BGD sent to us (AGS graded). i've heard that AGS *can* be a little looser with color grading than the GIA, and the appraiser put the J we were looking at between a J and a K. so if yours is a "high" J then maybe you will be fine! I could see absolutely no color in the I face up though, which I loved. We ended up deciding this particular J had too much tint for us, so we went with an I. However, the J we were looking at was a bit over 1.7 carats, and I think the bigger the diamond, the more color shows. So in the 1.2 range it might be better. Make sure you compare a J (certified by GIA or AGS) to pave in a halo, first, though - this was pointed out to me by a local jeweler and I was surprised at the discrepancy in color. If there is any way to get lower colored diamonds to go in the halo, that could really help, too. Then there wouldn't be as much of a discrepancy in color...

Also, as you will learn from these boards, the better cut the diamond is, the less color you will see from the top view. So an ideal/excellent cut J will look whiter than a "very good" cut J, most likely.

 

[SC86]

I do have a few photos that I took of the loose stone before it was set. It is a cushion, but I'm not sure what shape stone you are looking for.

To me it faces up pretty white (to my eyes), but you can see some on the body color from the side, especially on a white cloth/paper. Anyway, hope this helps!

 

[TheGreatTwizz]

Nice pics, looks to be a well cut stone!

 

[malnik]

I vote for J color when setting is yellow gold.

I color for white gold

I've been searching for diamonds for the past few days. I've noticed that cost differece between I and J color diamonds are small. Price goes up significantly at H color. From time to time, I color might cost less than J color diamonds. Good luck on your search.

 

[jstarfireb]

I would choose an I color. I am not very color-sensitive, and I can see face-up color in a J but not an I. That's an important distinction for me and one of the reasons why I traded up my J pendant stone for a higher color.

 

[sonnyjane]

Because your setting is yellow gold, the gold will make your diamond appear more yellow. Many people choose yellow gold to actually accentuate the warmth in their stones. Because of that, a J would be fine, as the setting will make any stone you pick appear more yellow. That said, you seem quite concerned with the color and the size difference is not much, so for peace of mind, you might be better off with the I, though I don't believe you'll see much difference once it's set.