Why do some diamonds look grey to me?

[firebirdgold]

I walked by one of the top local jewelry stores and they had this fairly fiery three-diamond ring in the window. When I stopped to look at it I was struck by how grey the diamond looked. I frequently notice this about diamonds, that they have this steel look to them. But I don't notice it as much with small diamonds. When I looked at a dvatche channel set x-prong with a .75, the center diamond looked markedly grey to me in contrast with the accent stones. If a store has super bright 'jewelry store' lights, I don't notice it as much.

This is not a function of color. I want to be clear on that. I can see this in E and F diamonds.

I also don't really notice it as much in OEC's. Some engaged friends were visiting from out of town the last couple of days and I was really struck by her bezel-set 1.3ish OEC. It looked very white, and in a restaurant with lots of natural ambient light, it looked very sparkly with big chunks of color and fire. (Hey, I couldn't really stare at her ring while we were walking outside without being obvious or running into something. And it's been grey out. )

Do you guys ever see a grey tone to diamonds? Is this town just filled with ugly diamonds?? Or maybe I just don't like rounds and haven't realized it? Any ideas?

oh, btw, for those thinking of setting an OEC in a modern bezel.. this one looked great! It was a custom platinum ring with narrower, tapering cathedral shoulders that set off a thin bezel around the diamond.

 

[sunkist]

Well I notice a lot of gray in photos of diamonds. Look in SMTR folder and a lot of the shots have gray. Is this what you''re talking about? I just figured it was the lighting.

 

[firebirdgold]

Yes, and I'm not saying that it isn't the lighting or that most people perceive diamonds this way. I don't know if that's just how diamonds are, I guess I never looked that closely until I started thinking about my own e-ring.
It seems like many of the diamonds I see in person under different lighting conditions are mostly grey with small flashes of white light and colored light coming off of it.

This is purely for illustration purposes since it's photos of the same diamond under different lighting conditions... But this thread demonstrates what I'm talking about. I always expected diamonds to look like the do in the wf pics, particularly the last one. But what I see in person is more like the pics the owner took of their diamond. (a noticeable exception is the OEC my visiting friend was wearing, it looked like the wf pic under all lighting conditions).
Is this just how diamonds are, or am I just seeing poorly cut stones? Or do I just fundamentally not care for diamonds?

ETA: just to be clear, I am not calling the stone in the thread poorly cut, it's lovely.

 

[eks6426]

Wren,

I don''t think you''re crazy. I notice the same thing with diamonds..especially rounds to me have a greyish or silverish color to them. I actually picked my e-ring stone to be a radiant because the radiants seemed white under most lighting conditions maybe because their contrast is much less than rounds? I''ll be curious to see if any of the experts chime in on this.

I have a round necklace and round earrings which I love, but I don''t stare at them every day. As much as I tried to love rounds for my e-ring the greyishness of them in some lighting really got to me in the end.

 

[diamond_quester]

This is similar to the question I asked about earlier - to me smaller diamonds tend to look very white and larger ones often grey-ish, especially RB''s (even when unset). Maybe it is due to contrast. (Meant in the technical sense, as in Pricescope Tutorial on Brilliance.) Also, my diamond got a lot more silvery after being set and sometimes sparkles with an icy blue/grey tint. In that case, I think it''s reflecting the platinum setting.

 

[firebirdgold]

Diamond-quester, where did you think the size cut off point is? Where does it cross from small and white, to large and silvery? Is it because a small white circle in a large dark background will look whiter than a larger circle in a smaller background? Guess it''s a good thing we can''t afford anything above a .5!

So what diamond shapes tend to look ''whiter'' other than radiants? I remember loving asschers, but I haven''t seen one for a while.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[february2003bride]

Hm, would it possible be the platinum setting giving the diamond that color?

 

[diamond_quester]

Wren, I''m not sure where is the cutoff and I expect it varies from diamond to diamond. It is likely not a bad thing either, since it describes many ideal cut RB''s. From trying on semi-mounts and 5-stone rings, 30 points looks as white as 10 points to me, while at 70 points I can see the difference.

It would be great if an expert could chime in with an explanation

 

[squarediamondlove]

I don't know if this will answer your question or not but there is currently a thread going on called "Is most color grading the grading of "TONE"?" and they talk about diamonds that are of brown tone looking grey rather than yellow to an average consumer. Maybe the grey that you are seeing is actually the brown hue?

But then again, you do say that you are seeing it in E/F diamonds, so I am clueless

Are you referring to when diamond look dark (greyish in color) when they sparkle, versus say a diamond that is a little dirty and will generally look whiter than the clean diamond?