Photographic death match: F versus K

[Lorelei]

Dreamer darlings,

This is so good of you to do these photos, thank you!! Very useful and ones I shall refer to.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/27/2009 1:15:32 PM
Author: Mara
i love the way the K looks moreso than the other stone, but i have determined that i PREFER slightly warmer stones (I, J, K). having had E, G, H stones, i don''t like how the white looks against my skin tone which is a warm olive. there are also ''shades within a shade'' so you might have a more warmly graded K against a ''whiter'' one. my pendant K is more white than my friend''s K ering.

Yes, I am not sure whether my K is high or low. It looks very similar to the J I used to own. In daily wear, the color is less noticable I would say than these photos, which were aimed at capturing color.

I like both looks in terms of color, but I definitely prefer the "personality" of my K diamond. Not sure how much of that is attributable to its better cut??

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/27/2009 1:25:30 PM
Author: ericad
Great thread! I am another lover of low colors, not just in antique cuts, but in general. To my eye, they are more interesting, have more depth and personality, and the fact that they change their appearance based on lighting (from white to ivory to even light yellow tint if the color is low enough) allows me to feel like I own several diamonds in one

LOL! Very good way of putting it. I think that "personality" is a good description of the chameleon-like quality of lower colors. I was in one jewelry store that had blond wood panelling and it made my diamond look like the crust if a loaf of french bread! It was beautiful!

But it is hard to shake the social stigma against "yellow"... my K only looks yellow in a yellow room! More often it is beige or taupe when it shows body color.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/27/2009 1:27:55 PM
Author: AnaClare
Dreamer, thank you so much for the time you took to complete this project. I am on the hunt for a diamond right now and always thought I wanted a lighter stone, but now am not so sure. Your jewels are amazing. Great photos!

Great! I''m glad it helped! There is definitely an icy quality to the colorless stones that you will not get in other color grades. If that is what you love and if that screams DIAMOND to you, then you may not like the lower colors. My K has a lot of "personality" as others have said... didn''t notice it as much in my J that I had previously, but the cut of my J wasn''t as good. I think the superideals pick up more from their surroundings, so be aware!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/27/2009 1:49:34 PM
Author: Snicklefritz
EXCELLENT DD! This has been so helpful! I am currently in the process of determining my preferences for a diamond, and color was truly stumping me. I was debating in the H-I-J range, and was admittedly a bit nervous about J, but after seeing your K, I am very reassured. I *think* that I like diamonds with warmer color, but have not seen enough in person to truly know the real difference between a F and a K, for example, as you have shown today. As you said, the difference was negligible for the most part, or at least that''s what I saw. Thanks again! Well done!

You know, the vast majority of time when I look at my K, all I see is bright white light, fire, and lovely spectral scintillation. It is very rare to see the body color. As Mara mentioned, though, K is a wide color range compared to the higher grades, and you can get a high or low K. With a J, I think there is a narrower range and so you might be safer! The size diamond you are looking for also matters. A smaller stone won''t show as much color. I had a J prior to this K, and honestly I never noticed its body color unless I compared it to a higher stone side-by-side.

I think that it is a mind-colorless thing more than anything that can affect people''s comfort with lower colors.

 

[AprilBaby]

Your pictures are AMAZING and I could really only detect the color on the profile shots!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Here is another interesting picture. I started my photoshoot wearing a yellow shirt! I realized my error after looking at the first couple of shots.

On the left are my diamonds with a white shirt on, on the right with a yellow shirt. Same lighting, same everything... really shows how the environment matters!

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Very cool post, DD! Thanks.

 

[jet2ks]

Very cool, dreamer. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Both stones are beautiful! I have an E color pendant and F earrings and although they''re super white, I''d love to also have a J or K stone with a bit more warmth. The warmer colors bring out more life to round brilliant diamonds!

 

[Rockdiamond]

Awesome photos and thread Dreamer! They really do give an idea of the softer color like K.

I''m also a lover of the lower colors.

Your point about the jewelry store is also well taken......I feel that it''s a shame how many people walking into jewelry stores get told that anything below H color is somehow defective.......

 

[kcoursolle]

Excellent thread, this should get linked in the helpful threads archive!!!

 

[kcoursolle]

It looks like it already is, awsome!!

 

[icekid]

Nice thread, dreamer. I always find it interesting to compare color. Clearly, cut makes all of the difference in the world.

 

[KaeKae]

I am so loving this forum and this thread. Long story, short, 22 years ago, my DH gave me my beautiful .67ct K si1 diamond in a yg Tiffany-style setting. It''s a stone from his grandmother. I knew nothing technical about diamonds, but I did know I loved it for it''s sparkle, shine, history, and of course, the love in which it was given. As time went on, I "learned" a little about diamonds from friends getting engaged, and the occasional article I found. Mostly I learned that I didn''t have a good stone because Ks are "bad." It made me a sad to "know" that my beautiful stone wasn''t "good," so I ignored it. Well, fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I am researching a new setting for our 20th anni. and thanks to all of you, I know that my diamond IS a little beauty. I don''t yet understand all the technical info, but I''m learning. I''m lucky to own a few other diamonds, inherited and gifts, of varying colors, size, etc. I love them all. I guess this isn''t short, but thanks if you''ve read! Thank you DD for sharing your beautiful stones.

 

[marcy]

Very great comparison shots. Very pretty diamonds.

 

[shiny29]

This was a super helpful post for me. I just posted a few days back asking about J color diamonds. This gives me some perspective. BTW, I love the title of the post too.

 

[Ellen]

Good job dreamer!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 5/27/2009 3:24:13 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Here is another interesting picture. I started my photoshoot wearing a yellow shirt! I realized my error after looking at the first couple of shots.

On the left are my diamonds with a white shirt on, on the right with a yellow shirt. Same lighting, same everything... really shows how the environment matters!

that is good to know because I noticed a little more warmth on the one on the right, thanks!!! Beautiful diamonds.

 

[Kelli]

Great photo shoot DD! I actually did a very similar one with my H/I engagement ring and my M pendant. Anyone interested here might be interested in this thread too. https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pics-of-my-finished-pendant-and-h-m-color-comparison.112052/. I''ve always heard that the differences between the faint yellow grades are much bigger than the differences between the colorless and near colorless grades. I think that really shows, as my M is much warmer than your K. I happen to love diamonds of any color, but for some reason the Ks are what wlays seem to call my name. I think when I upgrade my pendant I''ll have to go with a K!


Your diamonds are beautiful!

 

[princesss]

I love this post! It definitely made me realize just how much I love warmer colours in comparison to colourless stones. It''s beautiful, but the F just doesn''t do it for me the way the K does.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/28/2009 9:33:36 AM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 5/27/2009 3:24:13 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
Here is another interesting picture. I started my photoshoot wearing a yellow shirt! I realized my error after looking at the first couple of shots.

On the left are my diamonds with a white shirt on, on the right with a yellow shirt. Same lighting, same everything... really shows how the environment matters!

that is good to know because I noticed a little more warmth on the one on the right, thanks!!! Beautiful diamonds.

Thanks Skippy!

You comment makes me think of something that I have observed...It is interesting to me that yellow shows up so well in well-cut stones. But something important to remember is that true diamond warmth is not typically lemony yellow or buttery yellow... it is beige or brown or maybe a sort of brownish yellow in its least appealing form? Anyways, when my diamond looks bright yellow I know it is the environment! Many people get a little tricked by this I think, and come onto PS worried about how "yellow" their diamond is. When that is their concern, I almost always think it is the environment, because as I mentioned, warmth doesn''t really look yellow, at least not to my eye.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/28/2009 9:59:46 AM
Author: Kelli
Great photo shoot DD! I actually did a very similar one with my H/I engagement ring and my M pendant. Anyone interested here might be interested in this thread too. https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/pics-of-my-finished-pendant-and-h-m-color-comparison.112052/. I''ve always heard that the differences between the faint yellow grades are much bigger than the differences between the colorless and near colorless grades. I think that really shows, as my M is much warmer than your K. I happen to love diamonds of any color, but for some reason the Ks are what wlays seem to call my name. I think when I upgrade my pendant I''ll have to go with a K!


Your diamonds are beautiful!

That is a great comparison too!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thanks to everyone who posted about this thread! I''m so glad that people find it useful.

Although I am an owner of a K diamond, I certainly didn''t intend this thread to be a rah rah cheer for lower colors! I like all diamond colors personally. But I guess that the most interesting part of this thread is how subtle color differences *actually are* in real life. And that observation will probably lead a lot of people to consider lower colors when before they nixed them!

 

[jill_s]

So helpful - thanks for sharing! I have a G and a J diamond - I think your pictures have very accurately captured what I also see in my diamonds.

 

[blueroses]

I LOVE this thread. Thanks so much!!

 

[honey22]

Great thread DD! Thanks for taking the time to do such thorough research!

A word of warning to those considering lower colour stones, don''t use pics to decide whether a K, L, M etc stone would be right for you. You need to be able to see them for yourself to decide (or have a great return policy).

As fabulous as these pics are, I wouldn''t recommend that a guy go and get his gf a K colour stone for her ering without her specifically asking for one.

 

[tigian]

Thanks for taking the time to take all these pictures. Very interesting and helpful!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/29/2009 12:30:18 AM
Author: honey22
Great thread DD! Thanks for taking the time to do such thorough research!

A word of warning to those considering lower colour stones, don't use pics to decide whether a K, L, M etc stone would be right for you. You need to be able to see them for yourself to decide (or have a great return policy).

As fabulous as these pics are, I wouldn't recommend that a guy go and get his gf a K colour stone for her ering without her specifically asking for one.

People definitely need to see diamonds in person to assess color for themselves. Just be sure to look at ideal cuts when making your comparison and decision, as one person's K is another person's M-N-O.

This is a very good point about e-rings, too, Honey. The fact is that lower color diamonds don't have the *typical* icy white diamond look and some women may be put off by this if they have an expectation of that look. In addition, the social stigma ("cheap") of a K may affect the intended's perception of the e-ring.

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say not to consider it unless she asks for it though. We regularly recommend J's for e-rings in Rocky Talky and I don't think there is much difference between a well-graded super-ideal cut J and a well-graded super-ideal cut K, having owned both--though one should check with a knowledgeable vendor about whether or not the K is graded high or low... there is apparently a larger range of K grades than J. I think if a man knows that his gf wants carat over color then he may be safe going this low. I personally wouldn't have looked askance at receiving a nice large K, and would have through my man was smart for saving money on something I didn't care about! But then that implies he talked to me about what I wanted and understood my preferences

Always a good idea, though many men who show up here don't seem to heed it.

One other thing to note is that a super ideal K is much nicer than the majority of diamonds you find in maul stores. So depending on what the gf is expecting she may be happy with a super-ideal well graded K without having asked for it (e.g., if she anticipated a ring from a maul store and her bf stumbled on PS and gets her a superideal K instead, she would probably be very happy).

Still, most K owners on PS were personally involved in the diamond selection, as Honey suggests. I think that is a good way to go in general when searching for an e-ring no matter what type of stone one is considering! Most women have *some* pre-conceived notions about what they want, and its a good idea to get those out on the table.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/28/2009 10:01:56 AM
Author: princesss
I love this post! It definitely made me realize just how much I love warmer colours in comparison to colourless stones. It's beautiful, but the F just doesn't do it for me the way the K does.

Remember though that the K is much bigger than the F! Size can be quite the equilizer! LOL! Also, I think some of the appearance differences are attributable to the better cut of the K compared to the F, though both are ideal and have crisp arrows and good IS images.

Also, fancies like princess cuts will shot much more color than an ideal cut RB, and that may not be appealing in person. The "personality" of an ideal K RB has a lot to do with its cut.