New here: question about color

[jiggaman]

Hi all,

I''m new here but this a fantastic site. More info than I thought I could ever get in one place.

I know it depends on the person, but how much different in color is an I from an F (and G and H for that matter).

I have one person who says that the normal person can''t tell the color in an I unless put next to a whiter stone. I have another person who says don''t get anything below an F.

Now I know each of them has their personal biases, but what do you think? Just looking for opinions, not absolute truths.

thanks!

 

[FireGoddess]

Speaking from someone who has had an I stone, and a D stone, you cannot really tell the difference in color unless you''re looking at them side by side. Unless you''re amazingly color sensitive (and some people are, but most people aren''t) you will not be able to tell the difference between a G, H, and I.

I disagree that you should stay away from stones with more color than an F. G, H, I stones are still "near colorless" and even when set in platinum, look nice and white.

Just my $0.02.

 

[pqcollectibles]

It's really going to be up to your eyes. Other factors that affect color perception are the shape of diamond, the quality of cut, the size of the diamond, the presence or absence of fluorescence, and the hue of the rough.

You can have 3 similarly cut, same carat weight I color diamonds, and one can appear visibly whiter to you. One might have flour where the other 2 don't. One may have better minor facets alignment to face up and perform better.

You may be an extremely color sensitive person, or not.

Typically, the average person cannot tell the difference in one color grade step. E/F, F/G, G/H, etc.

The best thing to do is get out and look in person. Find some shops locally that carry well cut and Ideal cut diamonds. Hopefully you will find a range of colors in one location so you can see them side by side. You may find that G is the lowest you can go or you may learn that I/J works just fine for you.

 

[hoorray]

Many people are happy with I stones, but some people see more color than others. Just the other day, someone asking similar questions came back after looking at some stones in person and reported that he could easily see the color in something lower than F (I believe it was F -- I''m going by memory). The point is that you really need to look at some well cut stones in person, in normal, not halogen, lights to see if you are sensitive to color or have a preference one way or another. Some people prefer the warmer colors to the icy white colors. Based on what people say here, many many people see no color in an I stone unless it is side by side to a whiter stone. But... who knows what you will see.

 

[jiggaman]

Wow, so much help and so quickly too. I appreciate everyone on this site and the site itself! Thanks so much.

 

[pearcrazy]

Date: 2/4/2005 6:59:18 PM
Author: FireGoddess
Speaking from someone who has had an I stone, and a D stone, you cannot really tell the difference in color unless you''re looking at them side by side. Unless you''re amazingly color sensitive (and some people are, but most people aren''t) you will not be able to tell the difference between a G, H, and I.

I disagree that you should stay away from stones with more color than an F. G, H, I stones are still ''near colorless'' and even when set in platinum, look nice and white.

Just my $0.02.

Yeah, what she said!!

Except I have E and I colored stones. That makes 4 cents all together!

 

[pqcollectibles]

I didn''t want to influence you because my eyes are not yours,.......... But I have a fabulous 1.25 ct J that is amazingly white and bright.

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

People say I am a bit colour blind but if there is colour in a diamond then I see it. I go for the collection colours

 

[cflutist]

Date: 2/5/2005 12:52:48 AM
Author: Platinumsmith
People say I am a bit colour blind but if there is colour in a diamond then I see it. I go for the collection colours

Please define "collection colours" - do you mean D - F in the colorless range?

 

[Dancing Fire]

wife has a 1.15 ct "I" and a 3.34 ct "H" both well cut stones,side by side i can see difference probably because the H stone is more closer to a G color.

 

[jiggaman]

Ok, I went into a store and took a look. I couldn''t tell a difference between F through I. The salesperson kept insisting the F was whiter but I couldn''t see anything, and part of me felt like she was just trying to sell me the F diamond. I saw a D and did notice the difference with that one though.

Side note: I also looked through a loupe at an SI1 and I could see the inclusions but with a VS2 I couldn''t see anything, although I must admit it was my first time with a loupe.

 

[Golden Oak]

I think that color is a question of personal taste. There has been too much marketing selling that diamond buyers should be DEF. There are many customers that think if the diamond is not D-I they should not even look at it. Well I think you are missing out on a lot if you do. The color is not a function of quality unless colorless is your benchmark of quality, its not mine, color is just attribute to be incorporated into the design of the jewelery.

Personaly I like IJK color in my "colorless" diamonds.

If you are going to set in Yellow or Rose gold color is less of an issues if you are trying to go white. Color can even enhance, we just set a .48ct S/T color EightStar in a 18K rose gold setting and it looked great. The S/T color of this diamond was a Pink Brown that went great with the Rose Gold. I about a week I am expecting to do a O/P color EightStar in another rose gold custom ring.

Here is a .90 N color EightStar in 18K Yellow

Regards,

Brian Moore
Golden Oak Jewelers

 

[codex57]

Date: 2/7/2005 4:22:41 PM
Author: jiggaman
Ok, I went into a store and took a look. I couldn''t tell a difference between F through I. The salesperson kept insisting the F was whiter but I couldn''t see anything, and part of me felt like she was just trying to sell me the F diamond. I saw a D and did notice the difference with that one though.


Side note: I also looked through a loupe at an SI1 and I could see the inclusions but with a VS2 I couldn''t see anything, although I must admit it was my first time with a loupe.

Good. Let your eyes be the judge. Personally, face up, I can''t tell them apart unless you go way down. From the side, I can see color differences but I need something to compare it to if the shades are pretty close together. On a solitaire where you can see the side of the stone, I didn''t want to go too far down cuz I could see some slight yellow through the sides.

As for inclusions, once it''s dirty, inclusions can be pretty hard to see through a loupe if it''s in the VS range and above.

 

[sharon scott]

H stones are a great value too. I have an emerald and was told never to go below an G with an emerald cut. I like G stones but not colorless for my emerald cut. It''s so personal, but I like a "little warmth" to my stone especially an emerald because in my opinion too white can look glassy and fake.

This sight ought to help you understand the importance of a great cut stone which I think is the most important of the 4 c''s

an emerald fan