Stuck on which colour grade to pic?

[jasonster]

hi

ive been hunting for a diamond for a while.
i want a stone of at least 1.0ct.
i want a round brilliant cut stone.
i want a stone that is on the lower end of the colour chart to keep the cost down, however i dont really want a yellow tint to it.
for the clarity i want it to be eye clean.
i dont think i want any fluorescence.
the cut will have to be triple ideal/excelent/H&A or possibly one grade below which seems to be "very good" depending on price and visual effect.
the shank is going to be platinum.

i started out thinking i wanted an g/h colour stone. i went shopping locally to actually see some stones and saw an I certified stone which i was happy with. This then made me change my mind and i have been looking for I colour stones with a good cert. i have also been shown some options to go for an M or L colour stone with triple ideal H&A cut which works out a bit cheaper than an I colour however im not sure what to do now. I havent actually seen anything much below an I with a good cert to compare it to. as far as i know if you get the best cut stone it will make the stone face up a little whiter than it is.

my girlfriend would tend to want a bigger stone with a worse colour, than a smaller stone with a better colour but i dont want to go too low down on the scale to have it showing up with a yellow tint. size does matter however i dont want a big ugly stone.

if we ignore the clarity and cut for now, i just want to talk about the colour.
im ideally looking for an eye clean SI2 stone and ill either go for the best cut available or the one just below it.
so, if we assume the clarity and cut to be the same when comparing colours, what are peoples views on anything below an I colour and especially an L or an M?

ive tried to find some pictures of L/M colour stones but ive only found one. if anybody can point me in the right direction id love to have a look at them.

thanks

 

[slg47]

there are some pictures in the Show me the bling forum but the best way to decide is to see colors in person. I'd stick with I or J to be safe. what is your budget?

 

[Lula]

I agree with sig47 that sticking with I or J colors is the safest way to go. You will still get a stone that is white (just not icy white) to most people's eyes, and going to a J color will save you considerable amount of $$, even over an I color. I have owned I, J, and M color diamonds, and the M color is distinctly different than the I and J colors. The larger the carat weight, the more you will notice the color, especially in an M. I think the L-M-N (and lower) colors are gorgeous, but you need to embrace the color and love the warmer tones. So if you want size, look for a J color in the SI 1 and SI 2 clarity ranges (and work with a good vendor who will help you find a clean looking SI stone). Going to SI 2 clarity will save you a lot of money, but you have to work with a vendor who has experience with these clarity grades (i.e., not a place like Blue Nile which never sees the stone before they ship it to you).

 

[yssie]

Thritto - you're not going to be able to hide/mask the tint in an L/M/.. no matter what setting/metal you pick, so you'll need to either embrace their beauty or choose a higher colour

 

[jasonster]

thanks for the help.
i am going to be working with a vendor who will inspect the stone for me to give me a good idea about how it looks to the eye.
ive not got an exact budget in mind im just trying to keep the costs as low as possible but still get a good stone. that is the reason ive come down the colour scale and also just want to keep the clarity as eye clean. i do want a good cut though.

i saw an I colour in person and i was happy with it but ive not seen any lower.
maybe a J would be just as good as an I if it has the best cut but ive not seen a K L or M in person and im not sure if ill be able to see one especially with the best cut. Ive seen a picture and a video but its not the same as seeing it in person.

i had a quick look through the bling section but didnt see any ill have to have another look.
i tried a search for L and M colour but it only pulled up threads with colour in it and nothing related to L or M.

im probably the one being a little picky and im sure my partner will love what ever i get her.
she probably wont even be able to see the difference in colour especially when its on her hand, but if it was mine i would want it white but at the bottom of the scale to keep costs down.

its a difficult one......

 

[tyty333]

I typed in a post and PS (or something) ate it...anyway, I wouldnt go any lower than a J. I have a beautiful little J
with Flour that faces up very white (but its little). You will be able to see more color in a bigger stone.

Here is a link to someone who just bought an L colored stone and loves it but I believe she picked it out for herself
(vs buying it for someone you're not sure how they would feel about a lower color).

show-me-the-ring/got-my-l-color-1-5-ct-diamond-ring-show-me-your-l-diamonds-t146560.html

BTW - the concensus on PS is that Flour tends to make a lower color show up a litle whiter (I guess it has to do wtih the
added blue when outside) so I wouldnt shy away from Flour. My little J has med blue flour and its gorgeous!

 

[Dreamer_D]

I have owned F, G, J and K color diamonds. There is a BIG difference when you go from J to K, the latter being a much broader color grade. You can save a bundle dropping into that color range but you must love the tint for what it is because diamonds below J show tint, there is no question. They are of course still beautiful, but if you do not want any tint then stick with J or better, and to be very safe stick with I or better.

 

[JulieN]

J would be fine. M is questionable. K/L is somewhere in between, very common in older cuts, kind of antique, off-white.

What's your budget?

 

[Dreamer_D]

J would be fine. K is still nice, and the discount might be worth it for the difference between a 1 ct and a 1.25 ct or something like that, I'm not sure how substantial the discount would be. L and M stones are nice, but it starts getting into iffy-land.
?

When I was upgrading it came out to about $1000 per carat, it is probably more now.

I think a K can work for the right person, my only recommendation would be to set it into a solitaire and wear a plain band -- no diamond melee -- as the contrast with the melee really emphasized the tint in my K. Same with my J actually... On their own, though, both were lovely, though the K certainly was noticably tinted in comparison to my current J.

 

[Farleysmom]

Hi Jasonster -- I happen to have an L colour center stone in my 3-stone ring with J side stones. Although I love the way the stones look in different environments, YOU have to be happy with the colour as you will definitely see warmth in an L. I have attached pictures to help show you the colour. I hope this helps.

 

[LGK]

I own an M color, and it generally looks like a soft white *from the top*, it's a bezel set antique cut (Old European Cut). It doesn't look yellow to my eye in most lighting, but sometimes it does, or if I have a much whiter stone right next to it. From the side, of course, you can clearly see the body color, a cream color basically. It isn't, like, fancy yellow or screamingly pee colored or anything, but icy white it is not.

I wouldn't get a color that low in a modern cut as a surprise for anyone, or expecting it to be super white. You have to actually like the off white/ antique white look you get in some lights; if you're expecting a super duper white in every lighting condition, you'll be disappointed for sure. If you put side stones or melee next to it, it will emphasize the color a heck of a lot more and it will look cream colored in most lighting, rather than just sometimes in some lighting.

In your case, I'd probably go with I or J, depending on the stone, and set it either with exactly matching melee (if you're going with melee in the setting) or just as a solitaire, so it doesn't contrast jarringly with white melee. Also bear in mind that J is a fairly broad color band- some are whiter than others, even in properly graded stones. That's pretty much the case for all the lower colors, starting with J- the range of colors that fall within each grade are a lot wider than in, say, the colorless range.

 

[diamondringlover]

My Mom has a K old european cut and i will admit you really dont notice alot of color from the top (just a soft warmth) you do notice yellow tint from the side....I would stick with the I-J range, I have an I and I dont see any tint at all.

 

[MrsChil]

I have an I color cushion diamond and love it. I don't know if I'd go lower in a cushion but I might consider going down to a J in a round (cushions tend to show more color face up in my experience). I think it's a happy medium for price/size/color. I've had it set with F/G color melee and can only see the warmth in certain lighting conditions but it doesn't bother me. Not to mention my melee are much smaller and sparkle differently than my cushion stone so they work together beautifully. Here's a chart that may help a little. I liked having it to refer to. Hope this helps!

 

[yssie]

a 0.5 J is going to be considerably less tinted than a 2ct w/ the same body colour..

 

[MrsChil]

a 0.5 J is going to be considerably less tinted than a 2ct w/ the same body colour..

Yes, I totally agree. I don't know why they didn't just use all of the same sizes (I think these were from a PS vendor that happened to have these lower colored stones in stock). I thought it would still help to get some idea of color difference between the different grades though.

 

[Supers]

I'm buying a J cushion. I'm in Australia, so I made the decision based entirely on the video I saw where I was comparing a H and J.
I could see a difference between the two, but that was when the diamond was upside down on a white background.
As someone else on PS commented, a diamond doesn't just want to sit there and be white, so I went with the J colour as it was bigger!

 

[Dreamer_D]

I felt like those pics and the vid from GOG, while really usefull in a lot of ways, made the stones look much more tinted than when I actually received my own J. Just food for thought. My J looks more like the I or H in those pics in trms of tint when wearing it and when set. Take my opinion with a grain of salt of course... you cannot beat seeing in person to help make up your mind.

 

[jasonster]

thanks for all the replies.
i think ill be going with an I or possibly a J. i still like the other L and M colours however i want to stick to a whiter stone.
it will be going into a platinum solitaire.

 

[JulieN]

what is your budget?

 

[Amys Bling]

My .02... You are purchasing this for your future FI as a surprise (she's not picking out the stone with you), so I would play it safe and go with the H-I-J range. I understand she wouldn't mind sacraficing the color for more size, but I think that when going lower than a J you are getting a warm color stone and unless she has actually seen a KLM stone in person and said she liked it- I wouldn't go there.

And, truly an I-J stone is technically "choosing size over carat" What I mean when I say that is, you aren't going with a D-F or even G and going down in carat size, you are already dropping in color for the carat.... but I wouldn't drop any further unless you are 100% sure she has seen a KLM in person and loves it (this is her Ering and will be wearing it and trust me ::staring at it:: all day for years and years and years )