We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's G?

[Randall]

I'm proposing soon and I have to think fast. The "I" color diamond I purchased (certified from GIA) on Bluenile arrived a few days ago in a halo setting (with "H" color diamonds) and I was immediately disappointed and regretted the fact that I could only afford "I" at the carat/cut/clarity I wanted for her and the platinum setting I know she loves.

My girlfriend is very color-sensitive as am I. We both work in the Arts (in a variety of mediums) and usually agonize over paint colors at the paint store. Yes, we're that type of couple!

Anyway, the ring arrived a few days ago and I immediately regretted dropping to the "I" color. I had done a ton of research (everything except finding this site!), viewed color charts, read blogs, looked at pictures and believed the sales associate at Bluenile when he first told me that I would appear near-colorless when mounted against the platinum.

It doesn't. Maybe it's because nearly every site (including BlueNile) does photo color correction and uses D diamonds in all of their promotional material, or maybe it's because most of the color charts online (except for James Allen's) seems to have G-I as EXACTLY the same color in their charts (they usually put the 4 all as the exact same) but I guess I was expecting, well... less color. I look at the center stone ( a shade below a carat in round brilliant, ideal cut, and VS2 clarity) in any direct light and I see a LOT of yellow warmth and a noticable difference between it and the halo micropave. I'm not a rich man so I couldn't afford to go much higher unless I dropped down in size substantially or plopped down more cash. I went with option #2 and called the bank to get some more money.

I have the same ring on hold with slightly better specs in every category except carat size

I went down 0.04 in carat size but went up in price to potentially get a "G" color, ideal cut, (Considered a 3 using the scale on here for light, etc) VS2 diamond with excellent symmetry, polish and faint fluorescence.

My question after all this rambling is: Will I notice the difference? Will she feel as though the "G" is colorless? I'm pretty stretched now financially so I'm not sure what else I can do but I really hope there's a tangible difference between "I" and "G? The halo features micropave "H" diamonds so I'm hoping that by now being higher than the pave color grade (rather than below it) everything will appear a bit more beautiful and traditional.

As an aside: Is it at all possible that the "I" that I ordered was a borderline "J"? I realize that color grading can sometimes fall between grades.

 

[stone-cold11]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Drop clarity. If it is eye-clean, it is eye-clean, whether it is a IF or SI2. Most SI1 are eye-clean, just check with the vendor to make sure it is to your specification.

https://www.pricescope.com/journal/what_eye_clean_diamond

Can you post the link to the previous stone and present stone?

 

[yssie]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

well, sure, the I you got could've been closer to a J than an H, but if you're sensitive enough to see and dislike the tint in an I, I honestly doubt an H would be a great improvement.. G is clearer than an I and warmer than a D. To see if it's clear enough, you need to see it in person yourselves.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

H is my bottom comfortable color in an ideal cut stone, but G is very safe. And I also like VS stones. It's worth paying for the mind-clean aspect, in my opinion! Just be sure you are looking at the stone in natural light. Any stone can take on a tint in rooms with certain wall colors and incandescent lighting.

You are looking at GIA excellent cut, right?

 

[starryeyed]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Hi Randall.

Thanks for sharing your story with us. I understand your predicament completely. I am color-sensitive too. I just bought a G Round Brilliant (RB) for a pendant and have G RB earrings. They appear quite colorless and I am happy.

I see a difference between G and D when they are right next to one another, but by themselves looking top down, all of my G's are totally free of that creamy tinge.

It's a personal choice, but I think you will be fine with a G in a RB. If it were another shape, I might hesitate, but the RB shows less color than say a pear.

Stone-Cold gives excellent advice - if you can drop to an SI-1 or 2 that is eye-clean, it's a smart sacrifice. You will have to ask BN to have a gemologist look at the stone to verify. Pick out a few SI-1's and request that they be evaluated for eye-cleanliness. VS2's are usually safe, but that comes at a premium.

Of course, you want to make sure the stones check out on the Holloway Cut Advisor - very important! Let us know if we can help you!!

You will find a diamond you love within your price range - don't worry!

 

[slg47]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Hi randall: is there a way for you to go to a store and compare the different colors in person? that might help you decide your tolerances

 

[petrock<3]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Hi there! I am very color sensitive, and dropped to an SI 1 to go with an E color. Fellow artist as well

I don't notice the clarity at all, it is totally eye clean. If something was there, I am sure I would be able to see it. So I second the notion of giving up clarity rather than size (or going broke!) Cut though, is king.

Good luck and congrats on your pending engagement!

 

[risingsun]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

I have a G SI1 in an AGS 0 graded H&A stone. It is very white. I would not go lower, for myself. I place cut and color above clarity, as long as the diamond is eye clean. I am referring to what we call the "superideal" stones. They perform beautifully and the G color works for me.

 

[risingsun]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

[double post]

 

[Randall]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Thanks everyone. The support here is fantastic!

I considered going down in clarity past VS2 but that only brought the price down a little (I guess they also value it the lowest of the 4 Cs) so the financial gains there wouldn't have been enough to maintain the same carate size AND step up to "F" color. I would have had to drop another 0.04-0.07 in carat size to accomplish it and I spent a solid half a day struggling between the two (not knowing about this forum) trying to make up my mind. The Bluenile people and "the truth about diamonds" both suggested that at "F" in a round diamond with ideal cut... I'd be be paying for a feature I might not be able to visually appreciate. I reminded them that I was told something similar with "I" color but in the end I went with everything else I had read online that suggested that "G" would only be detectable when placed up side-by-side against a gem of less color. I hope they're right. Bluenile did inform me that I could drop down a clarity grade and ask for an "eye clean" visual but all I could think to myself was: "Who's the person doing this and how much effort would they really put into this check? It's not like they'd be held accountable in any way." Ultimately, both sites convinced me that getting the "G" diamond at the size, cut, clarity, polish and symmetry available was the right move.

Of course, as soon as the deal finalized though I began to have my doubts. I started looking at circles (ha ha, I sound like a crazy person now! It's all about the circles!!! Bwahahaha!) and started realizing that the difference in diameter between some of these carat sizes was minuscule. We're talking less than a tenth of a millimeter either way and I was acting like that difference was going to make or break the whole thing! The numbers make it seem so much more substantial than that when you're in the heat of a moment.

I'm feeling a bit better now. I think the halo setting really will benefit the size I chose. It makes it appear as though it's well past the 1 carat mark and with the smaller diamonds it actually does break that barrier by a decent margin in total carat weight (which doesn't mean much but might make her feel better once she realizes it someday). I feel I did all that I could do. I did a ton of research. I tried to get the best ring I could for the money I had without sacrificing our financial future together to do so (the jump past the 1 carat mark in these specs would have made the wedding/this trip we're taking for the proposal/and other future things harder) and I'm not convinced she'd value the slight increase in size as much as she will those other things so with any luck the ring color will seem substantially less colorful than the "I" color did and she'll be happy with the end result.

Does anybody have a good, detailed color chart that shows the slight variations between the color grades? Most of the ones in google image search only switch up the colors each "tier" and some of the "gem" ones only go every second grade. About the best one I've seen that made me feel like "G" would be noticeably better than "I" was the James Allen color wheel. I highly recommend it to anybody else out there who stumbles across this thread someday and is wondering something similar.

 

[slg47]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

if you're really color sensitive you may want to consider the F-a halo will make it look MUCH larger and 0.04 carat is REALLY small

this video may help you with color but I think it is best to see in person...

http://www.vimeo.com/3288695

 

[Randall]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Rising sun, is the G-colored ring you wrote of your avatar? If so, it does seem better than the "I" ring I returned but if I'm honest... I still detect some color there.

When I think of diamonds (and it's mostly from promotional pics, etc) I think whitish-blue but clear. I didn't realize those were the anomalies until recently. I thought most came like that!

Maybe I really should have went up to "F"

Oh well. I guess we'll see soon enough.

 

[risingsun]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Rising sun, is the G-colored ring you wrote of your avatar? If so, it does seem better than the "I" ring I returned but if I'm honest... I still detect some color there.

When I think of diamonds (and it's mostly from promotional pics, etc) I think whitish-blue but clear. I didn't realize those were the anomalies until recently. I thought most came like that!

Maybe I really should have went up to "F"

Oh well. I guess we'll see soon enough.

Here's a larger pic. It was taken under a green market umbrella, so that may be what you are seeing.






This is with my wedding band...


I suggest you visit a HOF vendor and compare the E,F, and G colors. That will give you a better idea

 

[Randall]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

if you're really color sensitive you may want to consider the F-a halo will make it look MUCH larger and 0.04 carat is REALLY small

this video may help you with color but I think it is best to see in person...

http://www.vimeo.com/3288695

Where was this video 2 weeks ago!? Thanks Google, or Vimeo but most likely me for not stumbling across that terrific clip. That's EXACTLY what I've been looking for!

I feel better watching that video as I was able to see the yellow in both the "I" and "J" that I saw in my first diamond purchase. The "G" in the video had some color but I feel more confident now that it won't stand out as strongly as the other one did. There is a tangible difference between the two but no difference is as strong as the difference between total absense of color and color. The fact of the matter is: There's only 2 colorless diamonds there to my eye. D and E look like glass which is how I always imagined a diamond looking. Obviously, as I now know... less than 1% out there really are like that. It's similar to the difference between a Hollywood white smile and a relatively normal looking white smile or ultra white and the first shade of "off white." That first step down from total absense of color to color of some kind is the steepest and then it's somewhat gradual the rest of the way. There's the clearest and the whitest and then there's the rest.

Watching the video made me realize that a "G" should look pretty good face-up and that most of the diamonds she'll come across from other people in life will probably also be "Gs" or "Fs" at best so the differences should be fairly slight. And on the occasions where it's not those two there's a much better chance she'll be looking at an H, an I or a J than a D or E.

Great video. I wish I would have found it sooner.

 

[slg47]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

sorry to threadjack but risingsun your ring is GORGEOUS!

Randall I hope the video helped-I have a G and am very happy with it.

 

[Randall]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Rising sun, is the G-colored ring you wrote of your avatar? If so, it does seem better than the "I" ring I returned but if I'm honest... I still detect some color there.

When I think of diamonds (and it's mostly from promotional pics, etc) I think whitish-blue but clear. I didn't realize those were the anomalies until recently. I thought most came like that!

Maybe I really should have went up to "F"

Oh well. I guess we'll see soon enough.

Here's a larger pic. It was taken under a green market umbrella, so that may be what you are seeing.






This is with my wedding band...


I suggest you visit a HOF vendor and compare the E,F, and G colors. That will give you a better idea

First off, gorgeous ring! It's very similar to the one I chose for my girl! I think you're right. It's probably the umbrella.

As I said in the previous post though, I think all diamond buyers/wearers have to face facts: There's true colorless and then there's near and near still has color no matter what the sites/pictures tell us. If you don't have a D or an E you have some color in your ring. It's just a matter of minimizing that as best you can if you're not hoping for a yellowish ring.

I think F-G provide the best bang for the buck now that I have more experience, especially against platinum. H-J is risking it if you're as color-sensitive as I am.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

I have owned a G color stone and I suspect for what you want it will be great. It is ever so slightly softer white than an E color (I compared) but not at all tinted or warm.

Make sure you get a great cut it will make a big difference. Not sure about the other stone your got, but GIA Ex is the minimum I would buy sight unseen from somewhere like Blue Nile. I am actually more picky than just GIA Ex cut grade, as are many others on PS, but for most diamond buyers it is a safe bet for cut.

Also, be sure you do not mistake diamond body color with the other optical properties of well cut stones. The "color" you see in the photos that Risingsun posted, for example, are NOT diamond body color but are instead the colors from the environment combined with the gorgeous facet pattern and constrast that an ideally cut stone will demonstrate. "Clear" is not actually a good word for diamonds in my opinion becuaser it implies lifeless. In real life, an ideally cut stone will have contrast and shadow and colors from the environment, and if you do not know what a well cut stone should look like, then you would be surprised.

Also, a larger center stone will always looke "darker" or more "colored" than a halo of small melee, it is the nature of diamond optics. So try to differentiate those things when you consider your new diamond.

 

[risingsun]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

sorry to threadjack but risingsun your ring is GORGEOUS!

Randall I hope the video helped-I have a G and am very happy with it.

Thank you so much, slg47. This color/clarity combination worked out well for me. I'm quite sure it is because of the cut

 

[risingsun]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

I have owned a G color stone and I suspect for what you want it will be great. It is ever so slightly softer white than an E color (I compared) but not at all tinted or warm.

Make sure you get a great cut it will make a big difference. Not sure about the other stone your got, but GIA Ex is the minimum I would buy sight unseen from somewhere like Blue Nile. I am actually more picky than just GIA Ex cut grade, as are many others on PS, but for most diamond buyers it is a safe bet for cut.

Also, be sure you do not mistake diamond body color with the other optical properties of well cut stones. The "color" you see in the photos that Risingsun posted, for example, are NOT diamond body color but are instead the colors from the environment combined with the gorgeous facet pattern and constrast that an ideally cut stone will demonstrate. "Clear" is not actually a good word for diamonds in my opinion becuaser it implies lifeless. In real life, an ideally cut stone will have contrast and shadow and colors from the environment, and if you do not know what a well cut stone should look like, then you would be surprised.

Also, a larger center stone will always looke "darker" or more "colored" than a halo of small melee, it is the nature of diamond optics. So try to differentiate those things when you consider your new diamond.

Thank you for pointing this out, Dreamer. The paragraph I placed in blue is very important for diamond buyers to know. My ring does not show body color. Not with the "superideal" cut. Thank you for explaining it better than I could. We need to make that information available on a sticky, IMO.

 

[risingsun]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

[Another double post! I can't seem to avoid them tonight ]

 

[slg47]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

to the OP: also of interest may be a recent thread 'darkness in ideal cut diamonds'. ideal cut diamonds will look extremely dark in direct sunlight-this is not the body color but is related to the light source and is explained really well in the thread.

 

[risingsun]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Hi Randall~ Thanks for the kind words. Please read Dreamer's post carefully. It will help you understand the nature of color in "superideal" cut diamonds. I hope you find a beauty for your engagement ring

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

I have owned a G color stone and I suspect for what you want it will be great. It is ever so slightly softer white than an E color (I compared) but not at all tinted or warm.

Make sure you get a great cut it will make a big difference. Not sure about the other stone your got, but GIA Ex is the minimum I would buy sight unseen from somewhere like Blue Nile. I am actually more picky than just GIA Ex cut grade, as are many others on PS, but for most diamond buyers it is a safe bet for cut.

Also, be sure you do not mistake diamond body color with the other optical properties of well cut stones. The "color" you see in the photos that Risingsun posted, for example, are NOT diamond body color but are instead the colors from the environment combined with the gorgeous facet pattern and constrast that an ideally cut stone will demonstrate. "Clear" is not actually a good word for diamonds in my opinion becuaser it implies lifeless. In real life, an ideally cut stone will have contrast and shadow and colors from the environment, and if you do not know what a well cut stone should look like, then you would be surprised.

Also, a larger center stone will always looke "darker" or more "colored" than a halo of small melee, it is the nature of diamond optics. So try to differentiate those things when you consider your new diamond.

Thank you for pointing this out, Dreamer. The paragraph I placed in blue is very important for diamond buyers to know. My ring does not show body color. Not with the "superideal" cut. Thank you for explaining it better than I could. We need to make that information available on a sticky, IMO.

You are of course welcome! I think that it is very common for people who have not seen diamonds much in person to be surprised when they do see them in person and they see how much life they can display!

Randall, I am not saying that you are mistaken in your perception of color in an I color stone, just wanting to make sure you know the full nuance before shelling out for an F when you might have been happy with a G, or getting an F and still thining it shows color.

An I color stone will most definitely look "warm" in some lighting and some angles, though, you get no argument from me on that, and it would be even more noticable with a halo. (I would not use the term "yellow" based on my experience, despite being very color sensitive myself).

 

[allowingtoo]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

His faint fluorescence will help here too won't it? My H looks like a D with the Strong blue fluorescence I have in my stone. At least that's what I have been told by my Jeweler. She was very surprised when I told her it was only an H.

 

[stone-cold11]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

His faint fluorescence will help here too won't it? My H looks like a D with the Strong blue fluorescence I have in my stone. At least that's what I have been told by my Jeweler. She was very surprised when I told her it was only an H.

Faint is too low a level to help, need at least a medium, strong to very strong is preferable for visible effect and only under certain lighting conditions, i.e. with significant UV radiation component.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Nothing ever compares to seeing the stone in person, a camera doesn't have the dynamic range necessary to accurately capture a gem. I'm also very color sensitive and can see I's and sometimes H's, so I can relate.

G's are typically a lot better, but if you're really sensitive you should try an F.

Now you know

--Joshua

 

[yennyfire]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Not to be the voice of dissension, but I would say that I'm fairly color sensitive (my original ering, which was lost/stolen, was an E) and I just exchanged a G stone for an I (long story...I wanted an eye clean stone, it's not that the G was too white or anything)...I compared the two side by side and I really didn't see a difference. I even compared it to an F and didn't see a difference. So, maybe I got a really good "I", but the bullets that it's set between are F (when I exchanged stones, we didn't swap the side stones) and I don't see a difference. It would have bothered me. I think a "G" (assuming it's truly a "G" and not a bordeline "H" should be fine for your color sensitive eyes). If you receive the stone and still see color, I'd probably go up to an E, just to be totally safe. Good luck and please post pics when you have the ring!

 

[Randall]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

His faint fluorescence will help here too won't it? My H looks like a D with the Strong blue fluorescence I have in my stone. At least that's what I have been told by my Jeweler. She was very surprised when I told her it was only an H.

I was sort of hoping it might help a little in daylight if not be completely unnoticeable. I know faint is, well, faint so I'm not expecting miracles. It just happened to be there in the diamond that was at the price and specs I wanted and after reading up on it... I determined that it probably wouldn't have much of an effect either way but that the positive potential outweighed the negative so I went with it.

It ships today. I can't wait!

I keep looking at Bluenile's "recently purchased rings" section to look at the real-life photos and cover up the specs and I feel I can honestly get within one grade of color now looking at each picture most of the time. The angles of the photos (head on/face up is a little harder) and the settings complicate things but if I pick platinum setting and look at only rounds I find that I'm within a grade most of the time. The colorless grades of D through F are the easiest to spot and appreciate because the lack of color stands out. I'm rarely wrong on those. I'm also pretty good at detecting the trace amounts of warmth in I but especially J. And then anything that falls somewhere in between the two (ie: not so clear as to stand out noticeably and not too warm to stand out the other way) generally ends up being G or H when I look at the color code after.

I'm feeling better about this all the time. I again looked at 1 carat cuts at the specs I have this morning and realized that the prices went up by around 60% on anything that wasn't considered extremely strong florescence. The diamond I'm getting tomorrow is 6.10mm in diameter and the 1 carat diamond equivalent at 60% more dollars is 6.39mm. The price jump is 60% more for an approximate 5% increase in diameter on a round cut to ideal proportions. I realize it's all about demand but that's still a pretty big jump.

I couldn't afford the 60% jump in price without sacrificing in setting, color, clarity or cut so I think I made the right decision based on all of those factors and the fact that the setting is a halo setting. Ultimately, she'll be the judge though!

 

[starryeyed]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

Hi again Randall. Please keep us posted when the diamond arrives. I think the G is going to be great. I wouldn't worry about the size difference - 0.29 mm is imperceptible and if it's a well-cut stone, it'll probably look even bigger than 1-carat.

There are size milestones where the price jumps significantly - 1-carat is one of them. You can guess some of the others too. Sounds like you chose very well and are going to get a lot of bang for your buck.

 

[vespergirl]

Re: We're color-sensitive and I just returned an "I" - How's

You'll probably be happy with the G. Does your stone have flourescence? Flour gives the stone that "blue-white" quality that you like. I honestly love a stone with flour, because I like that blue-white color too.

Also, the larger the stone is, the more color it will show. I was engaged some years ago to a different man, and the ring he gave me was 1 ct E color with medium blue flour, and it had that cool, icy appearance.

When my husband proposed, he let me pick my stone, and I wanted something larger, so we had to go down in color. I have a 2ct G with no flour, and I can see the difference compared to my old E with flour - but I think that the main reason is that with larger stones, color is more apparent.

Please post pics of your ring when you get it - I'm looking forward to seeing it.

BTW, I own several pieces from Blue Nile that my husband has purchased me, and I think that their quality & service are excellent. I think that your fiance is going to love her ring.