Sacrificing color for carat weight?

[skypie]

I've noticed if you go from a H color to J or K, you can get almost 0.4 carat more (going from 1.6 to 2.0 carat round cut stone) for the same price. Is this a bad idea given that colors are more noticeable on bigger stones?

Many people care about size first but is having a big yellow rock unappealing?

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Is this one of those TGIF (of yore) threads????

Define "yellow". Explain unappealing.

cheers--Sharon

 

[AGBF]

Is this one of those TGIF (of yore) threads????

Define "yellow". Explain unappealing.

I saw you mention TGIF in Hangout, Sharon. I didn't know it was a "thing". Do (or did) people post trolling threads on Fridays at one point?

Deb

 

[bludiva]

The OP is ring shopping so I'll assume it's a real question.

It's totally in the eye of the wearer...I was looking from an M-Z or fancy light stone, I like that look better than whiter or more intensely yellow. Ended up with a larger stone than expected as a result. J/K is still pretty white and a lot depends on how you set it too.

 

[MonkeysInk]

OP, are you looking at certified stones?

I went into a store for a repair last week and asked to look at a diamond in the case because it faced up deep yellow, almost olive. The owner told me it was by her best guess a J.

I am 99.9% sure the jeweler’s stone would not come back from GIA as a J - it was just too richly tinted - but if I hadn’t seen certed stones in person before, I probably would have taken her word for the color and assumed that J = dark yellow.

There’s a great video that Rhino from Good Old Gold made that gets shared around on here showing the colors that might be fun to watch to help you decide. There Is also a pinned thread in SMTB with a bunch of links to threads by color, which I think are really neat to look at.

 

[kenny]

... is having a big yellow rock unappealing?

To some yes, to others no.

You have to decide for yourself what your 4C priorities are.

Some here will try to convince you why their priorities are superior and should be shared by the world.
I'd ignore them.
Your money, your finger.

 

[Tophat1]

For me personally, I start to see color in some Js. I had no issue going down to an I color with a super ideal cut. 1.84 carat stone. I might have even considered a “high J” but didn’t want to ship stones back and forth since I was buying online

 

[AGBF]

I believe that twenty or thirty years ago if anyone bothered with a certificate at all, then the color letter mattered more than it does now. I remember many people choosing an "I" as place where they stopped. Other people stopped at a G. Some wanted a diamond in the colorless (D-E-F) range. It appears to me that now that round brilliants are no longer the only round cuts being sold, that lower colors have become more fashionable. People routinely buy M and N colored stones. There is a thread about a beautiful pale yellow diamond in a vintage cut that a regular poster here had set recently. It is exquisite. So there are many things one can think about when one is looking for a stone.

 

[ChristineRose]

Diamonds are graded face down on white cards. Most people will easily see color in a J if viewed from the side. If viewed face up, the sparkle of a well cut stone will obscure the color.

All this is complicated by the fact that there are crooked grading labs out there that will call a K or L or M or even lower a J. As you get further down the alphabet, the color grades are further apart and easier to see, so a J/K comparison will be more striking than a E/F. And there are dealers out there who will tell you that they won't carry anything as low as a J, because J are too yellow for any decent person to wear. These are inevitably jewelers who sell J misgraded as G.

Assuming you get a GIA or an AGS, and assuming you get a very well cut stone, it's still very hard to say how the stone will look. It will be in a ring, it will be in less than optimal lighting, it may have some fluorescence which will depend on the lighting, it won't be against a controlled white card, and it won't be so close that viewers can stare at it closely from all angles.

All that said, if you want a stone that is reliably icy white, don't get a J. But it will not be a yellow rock. For one thing, actual yellow rocks are much more expensive than J.

 

[AdaBeta27]

Seeing tint and being bothered by it are two different things. From back when I first joined PS, there were many discussions where participants concurred that a property-graded I color is where most people can start to see some tint. I own a 6.3mm OEC I VS-something with strong blue fluor. I never noticed any tint in it whatsoever for the 10 pre-Pricescope years that i owned it. It was after PS that I learned how to see observe tints in diamonds, and when I put a black light on that stone just for laughs and was amazed to learn that it has blue fluor. Now that I have "seen" the tint, I can't unsee it, and that diamond always llooks white face-up but it's always ivory white from the side. If I look at a princess or an Asscher or other deep diamond, I can see that ivory color of I from about 3 feet away. If you decide to try a J or a K, be aware that sometimes the color (or clarity issues) start to become too obvious after you've had the change to study it a while.

H is the limit of "white" for me. I'm not saying that I don't like the creamy tint of I, but H is what I'd stop looking if having no ivory or yellow was important to me. I have an M color H&A RB that is a recut by Brian Gavin. And it's pale yellow. Sometimes, it can face up very white, but in other lights, it's pale yellow face-up, and it's definitely pale yellow from the side.

Another issue is that larger diamonds concentrate tint more. There can be specific warm tints that either appeal to or repulse you more than others. When you get to 2ct and up, the J/K colors are pretty warm, or some say "not white," and not all people are going to like them. Personally, I tend to skip J and K because they are neither white nor yellow, but I love L and M, both of which are a lovely *pale yellow. N and P are strong yellows, and you'd really have to like yellow diamonds to pick one of them, imo.

 

[rockysalamander]

Just to add, diamonds also have a body color of yellow, brown, and grey (in order of occurrence). I personally prefer a brown body color in lower-colored stones over yellow. GIA does not list the body color until K.

The ability to see color is biological. Some people see the world as subtle shades of cream, ecru, buff, tan, white -- still others see these as "white". So, it is useful to consider the intended wearer abilities. Are they artistic? Do they seek just the "right" shade to match clothing or shoes?

I personally can see color in an F vs. G. But, I don't find it offputting personally when looking for "white" down to an H. In superideals, I'll look at I and J. In old cuts, anything worth considering as the light return allows more tint to be appealing.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Crashing into this thread on the question of colour, I saw it mentioned in another thread that AGS is softer on colour than GIA.

How true do those of you who have viewed lots and lots of diamonds find this (if at all).

If my bangle venture works out with Whiteflash (and the A Cut Above stones do wow me on the bangle) I am thinking of getting a small, under 1ct diamond to stick into a rose gold setting to match but their ACA range is from AGS so I'm wondering if choosing a H colour would be risky if they grade softer on colour.

 

[Lachinoiserie]

That’s a thread for me! I was extremely concerned by the potential yellow tint the WF J diamond I ve purchased.

I have received it 2 days ago and I can only see a lesser white tint below the grid if I look at the stone from the bottom at a tilt angle. Which normally do not happen in the normal life.

Here is a couple pictures I took yesterday in a hurry of the J diamond mounted on a platinum setting:







For the record, it is smaller (.85) than what you are looking for.

 

[Maisie]

As Kenny said, only you can decide on what works for you. We can all tell you our preferences but it won’t really help you much. I wear an M OEC and I adore it. Someone else might only be happy with a D Ideal Cut. The only way you will know is by looking with your own eyes and seeing what you like. Once you know that you are good to go. I’m looking forward to seeing what you get!

 

[marymm]

^ Agree with Maisie 100%.

Can also add that, personally, I've known I prefer high color diamonds yet still tried to trade off color for carat weight. I tried multiple times, different colors and different shapes ... for me, turns out I prize high color more than size, and I've finally-finally learned my lesson.

For you, the result(s) may be different.

It is definitely worth pursuing but only if the vendors you buy from have a solid return policy and only if you decide you can afford to take a potential hit re: shipping charges (times several purchases/returns, this adds up quickly).