J Color Diamond

[pyramid]

Is a J color diamond a good or bad color to buy? Do not hold back just tell me your honest opinions.

 

[rodentman]

J is neither good nor bad. It is simply a color grade. YOU must decide if you like the appearance vs the cost, just like evaluating any other color.

Some people think J looks tinted if mounted in plat or WG. But many people do not. It also depends upon how sensitive you are to color. Some are moreso than others.

Remember that the better the cut, the more likely the stone will look whiter than its ture color when viewed face up.

I own a J EightStar and am thrilled with it. It was half the price of the same size and clarity E EightStar, an easy choice for me.

Others will say no way would they have less than an E.

Look at a LOT of diamonds, remember cut quality, and see what makes you smile.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Dittos to the Rodentman!

How perceptive are you to color? CUT quality is a biggie. The better the CUT, the "whiter" the appearance. White gold/plat or yellow gold? Is the price difference a trade-off/compromise (assuming equal quality CUT) to get comparable carat weight and clarity?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

 

[pyramid]

Thank you Rodentman & PQCollectibles.

What Rodentman has just said is what I keep hearing on the forums that color is neither good nor bad it just is. Then is clarity neither good nor bad it just is. I know when you talk higher and lower D color is higher than J and VS1 is higher than SI1. Is this just higher in value but then do we not determine it to be good and bad. Why is color thought of any different than clarity? Or is it not? After all we are told to choose cut then color and then clarity so I would think higher color like G with clarity SI1 would be better than H SI1.

 

[AnnaMagdalena]

Hi Pyramid,
I'm another happy J owner. My J faces up very white in about 90% of lighting situations. In one restaurant with coppery interior and low candlelight, my stone returns yellowish light. That's the only time I notice it looking tinted, and I stare at my diamond ALL THE TIME.

More importantly, I think one can make a distinction between the ranking of clarity grades and color grades:

-Visual performance: Flawless through SI, generally, the differences between grades are not eye-visible and don't impact the visual performance of the stone. However, with color grades, that's not the case. People with sharp color sensitivity can truly see the difference between stones of 2 (or even 1) color grades apart.

-Personal preference: I have yet to meet someone who prefers the look of cloudy, black carbon-spotted diamonds to the look of clean ones! (Well, except for those few sentimental posters who have grown fond of the lone "birthmark" on their stone!) However, many people actually do prefer the "warmth" of H-J color diamonds, as opposed to icy white. A friend of mine has always been turned off by the "coldness" of diamonds, but liked the look of my J set in yellow gold, because to her it was more inviting.

You may have seen many stones already, but on your next shopping trip, maybe you can focus on comparing color grades, and see what you personally like. For me, I felt like I was getting a great deal by going to a perfectly cut J color stone--I got a bigger stone within our budget that way.

Does that help at all?

 

[homer_j]

G & H is too close to call with everything else being equal. Wrestling over that difference borders on obsessive compulsive, unless the costs are cray different.

Color is color, that's it. It's a preference. I prefer icy white, but I think the ambery tones are interesting too. The reason for the price difference is related to availability and frequency of ocurrence. It is less likely that a diamond will form without some microelement impurity that will result in a perceptible hue. Finding a diamond that is big, clean and without color is just more rare and therefore more valuable, if that's what the market wants. Rare colored stones can be more valuable than D's if that's what the market wants. Clarity is a different situation, that can result in an adverse structural effect to the diamond. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that an included diamond is less valuable than a slightly included diamond.

So, did you decide to keep your J?

 

[Giangi]

J has, in my opinion, a very nice warm face up, but it might bother someone. Are you sensitive to color?

 

[pyramid]

Thank you everyone who has replied. Yes, I still have the J but am still in contact with the jeweler about an exchange maybe. The thing is I can see the difference in colour between two G smaller stones I own and particularly through the loupe at the window in sunlight looking through the side of the stone upside down. I actually don't think it really bothers me except in sunlight and with the loupe, with the naked eye in sunlight it is not that noticeable as I would probably look at the stone face up most of the time.

I have a new thing that is bothering me and why I may exchange the stone mostly. The culet has been left natural and I can see little pinpoints. I have two older chainstore diamonds, which this one is not - it is from a well established local jeweler, who have the same thing. I wonder if stones are fashioned differently in the UK or is it because it is not a certificated stone. I have also read about stone cutters from India but the stone is very well cut and the polish is exceptional compared to the other two rings I own. I assume it has been cut like this to save on weight.

It is not a chipped culet and it is not visible unless under the 10x loupe so don't know! Would this be more a commercial cut than a fine cut then, but then again with the loupe I can see perfect arrows and the star facets in a white circle in the foot of the pavillion, infact it looks exactly like the idealscope picture, although I know an idealscope is really required to see light leakage. I also know that to be a H&A diamond there is more to it and the shape of the hearts are taken into consideration.

Could any of you advise me what to do? Are these culets very common in diamond goods? It seems that the diamonds I bought before has it too. The culet is not polished just left rough.

 

[pyramid]

Do you think this would be a symmetry problem or just the cutter trying to save weight?

 

[homer_j]

If it isn't off-center, then the culet is not asymmetrical. How big is the culet that it makes that much of a difference when seen from above, mounted?

 

[pyramid]

It is not off centre. There is a white dot either natural rough or a very tiny crystal and one of the pavillion main facets stops short of the crystal so when light is shone on that facet there is a black vacant spot before the crystal. The vacant spot is to the side of the culet but the crystal is where the culet should be. I am calling it vacant because it looks dark maybe if I reflect the light on another facet it will light up but it does not light up with the pavillion main facet that it should be a part of.


The stone is a VS I was told, it is a very tine white spot/crystal only can be seen with a loupe. I would say it is definitely not SI size as it is so tiny that I had to peer to see if it is a crystal or natural diamond rough, looks a bit like pinpoints. Where the crystal/white mark is two of the main pavillion facets do not meet from opposite sides of the stone but they are fully formed, this is why I do not think it is an abraded culet.

The other diamonds I have, small stones approx 0.40 carats the culet is on centre but not polished instead there is a round white spot which when I look into the stone from the bezel facets I can see it multiplied. bezel Well the pavillion facets offcourse can be seen through the bezel facets but the white spot makes it more apparent.

 

[pyramid]

Just noticed that I was holding the stones wrong, I can see a white dot which looks magnified when looking through bezel facets with a loupe but when looking through table to pavillion the dot is very tiny so I think it is the culet.

The larger stone I think is just pinpoints. The stone is VS and this is the only thing I can see in it with a loupe. I thought because I saw a white mark in the other stones it was a cutting or symmetry issue.

Just goes to show when not using a loupe properly many things can appear differently.