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Why modern rounds are not that popular in lower colours...

Rpb

Rpb

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
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My personal observations... Overall people generally come looking for modern round diamonds in lower colours. I am I guess not very colour sensitive and quite like the idea of owning modern round in L to N colour however I find that they are not so popular as compared to G to J.... Why is that so?
 
Rpb said:
My personal observations... Overall people generally come looking for modern round diamonds in lower colours. I am I guess not very colour sensitive and quite like the idea of owning modern round in L to N colour however I find that they are not so popular as compared to G to J.... Why is that so?
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I think a lot of it stems from the old ' aagh - yellow diamond yuck!' mindset that has been doing the rounds since time 'immoral' to coin a phrase. Such stones have been considered highly undesirable and the slightest hint of warmth in a diamond has been enough to elicit upturned noses and a firm shake of the head - no thank you very much. Of course, certain well known diamond producers have always extolled the virtues of the colourless, high clarity stones as the only thing worth buying in their marketing campaign, which has been highly successful through modern times and hasn't helped the cause of the much maligned K> colour diamond.

In my early days on Pricescope ( 13 years ago now), the warmer colours were seen on occasion but no one was buying them much. Now with the amount of education, videos and happy buyers and wearers of the warmer stones, things have changed and people have the confidence to say they love them and vote with their wallet, and save money at the same time. Myself included. That ' ugly yellow rock' myth has been busted and although they do exist :tongue:, there are now many gorgeous, delicate, warm white diamonds available.

I believe it's the cut quality that makes the difference as it does with any diamond and the warmer colours come in such pretty and delicate shades, golden, antique lace, white wine, delicate peach, rosy brown, a hint of sunshine in the body colours and the colours they can throw when the light hits can be absolutely beautiful.

I find warm coloured diamonds to be absolutely charming and there's a growing crowd who feel the same way!

My warmest stone is a beautiful AVR 1.06 O colour by the way, it's set in white gold and still faces up a soft white in most lights, I love it!
 
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Warm coloured diamonds have their own character but most marketing of diamonds is aimed at telling people that any tint of colour is bad (hence the popularity of low colour stones).

Unfortunately where I live, high colour stonescare also not cut well, which further compounds the problem.

For low colour MRB’s I am a big fan of Brian Gavin’s Cape range which are cut to super ideal proportions but are focused on L-Z coloured stones.

One additional benefit is that the higher the colour, the easier it is to afford higher weight stones, which is always a bonus.
 
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I've always loved warmer diamonds. I imagine it was marketing and supply/demand. Because whiter diamonds are more rare, they are more expensive. People want to get "the best", so when they see that whiter ones are more expensive, that makes them think they're inherently better than lower colored diamonds.
 
Correct me if im wrong, sometimes age matter when looking at color. In general, most people who are going to propose are younger so they are sharper and quite sensitive when it comes to color of the diamond. :cool2:
 
YoLaL said:
Correct me if im wrong, sometimes age matter when looking at color. In general, most people who are going to propose are younger so they are sharper and quite sensitive when it comes to color of the diamond. :cool2:
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Interesting theory YoL and it appears you are quite right! It's not something I've thought much about personally, with clarity certainly but not colour. However, you do have a point and there's an article here about it!

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140220102614.htm
 
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YoLaL said:
Correct me if im wrong, sometimes age matter when looking at color. In general, most people who are going to propose are younger so they are sharper and quite sensitive when it comes to color of the diamond. :cool2:
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:mrgreen2: now I get why I am not so colour sensitive...
 
I agree its got a lot to do with marketing, and perhaps a bit to do with color sensitivity in younger people getting engaged. But i think that its also one of the easier things to pick out when viewing a diamond. Color and size....and most people wouldn't pay for something they can't immediately perceive like cut...clarity is the odd third wheel that only matter when people feel its immediately noticable that there is something in the stone. As long as the stone is shiny, and there is one or two rainbows...most people dont look any further in terms of cut.

I find that most of my friends have no idea what a good cut stone is. Since PS, I've had a few friends get engaged and a lot of the conversation revolves around size, color and clarity....when cut is brought up...as long as its excellent cut...no one thinks beyond that. When i start talking about angles and asets, many people start getting glazed eyeballs.
 
metall said:
I agree its got a lot to do with marketing, and perhaps a bit to do with color sensitivity in younger people getting engaged. But i think that its also one of the easier things to pick out when viewing a diamond. Color and size....and most people wouldn't pay for something they can't immediately perceive like cut...clarity is the odd third wheel that only matter when people feel its immediately noticable that there is something in the stone. As long as the stone is shiny, and there is one or two rainbows...most people dont look any further in terms of cut.

I find that most of my friends have no idea what a good cut stone is. Since PS, I've had a few friends get engaged and a lot of the conversation revolves around size, color and clarity....when cut is brought up...as long as its excellent cut...no one thinks beyond that. When i start talking about angles and asets, many people start getting glazed eyeballs.
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So true I agree. Coming to PS we know cut is king above all else...I guess for me colour would rank lower in terms for priority
 
I think marketing has a lot to do with it and personal preference. A very white diamond is beautiful in it's own regards. I love the warm colors but I love the high colors as well. Both are different and I love them for all that they are, but with that said IMHO a colorless diamond shifts less in different lights. So it is a more consistent look versus a warmer diamond.
 
i agree with previous posters that it has a lot to do with perception of yellow or brown in a stone as "yucky" ...and that perceived value i believe stems from the fact that colorless are rarer so the color was seen as an impurity. it's tolerated more in old cuts in my humble opinion because most of the remaining original old cuts are warmer in color. i have two yellow MRBs and i love them....if you are drawn who cares what's popular ;)2;)2;)2
 
I think to some extent, it is historic supply leading to what becomes popular in the average consumer's mind.

Starting from the rough, there is probably a section of lower cape-colors, where certain cutters believe they can get a fancy color-grade, in the worst case a 'Light Fancy' of a less reputable lab. That leads to a lower production of such cape-colors.

Then, there is the factor of the usage of a lab-report or not. As stones become less valuable, the fixed expense of getting a lab-report becomes more important. So, historically, cutters are inclined to avoid getting a lab-report on such lower-value stones. That leads to a lower supply of such stones with a reputable lab-report.

Thus, on the one hand, wholesalers and retailers, in the end consumers will find it harder to source such lower colors, with a reputable lab-grade. Not only leads the non-availability to lack of knowledge, it also leads to disregard and reduced attraction.

On the other hand, you will certainly find such colors without reputable lab-grading and the accompanying misrepresentation. It will not be hard to find a so-called K, without report, where the actual tint is somewhere between Q and R, or lower. That again leads to reduced trust and appeal at a consumer-level.

I hope this makes some sense.

Live long,
 
Also to add, D colour and high clarity seem to be forgiven a lot even if the cut is poor and not much in the way of sparkling is going on, because it still gets bragging rights. There are still many who could see a beautifully cut warm diamond, would gush over how lovely it is but on learning the colour grade would do an immediate 180 because it was never ' the thing' to admit to liking warmer diamonds because in modern times, they've been seen as ' inferior.'

Things are changing slowly and especially with the popularity with old cuts, that only helps.
 
The question was:

"Why modern rounds are not that popular in lower colours..."

Do we actually know that this is true? And, if it is, is it because those are the stones that are cut into round brilliants? I did read all the responses above and was, originally, going to direct this question to Paul. But I thought that would be unfair. Also: what is a "lower colour"? I believe that what is "lower colour" varies from person to person! To me a lower color would have been an "I" before today. I have gotten used to seeing people buy J stones and lower, but the lowest color I own is a G. At some point I decided to try to buy only D color stones and definitely nothing lower than an E. As has been posted here ad nauseum, I want a "mind clean" stone. I have no need to go above VS clarity, however.

AGBF
 
AGBF said:
The question was:

"Why modern rounds are not that popular in lower colours..."

Do we actually know that this is true? And, if it is, is it because those are the stones that are cut into round brilliants? I did read all the responses above and was, originally, going to direct this question to Paul. But I thought that would be unfair. Also: what is a "lower colour"? I believe that what is "lower colour" varies from person to person! To me a lower color would have been an "I" before today. I have gotten used to seeing people buy J stones and lower, but the lowest color I own is a G. At some point I decided to try to buy only D color stones and definitely nothing lower than an E. As has been posted here ad nauseum, I want a "mind clean" stone. I have no need to go above VS clarity, however.

AGBF
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You always come up with great food for thought Deb! For me, a lower colour I suppose is around a K, as you say, that's really going to be subject to personal interpretation.....Some might feel an H is lower, some I like yourself.....:think:

In the non PS world I imagine that the colourless/ near colourless are still the most popular choices because so many probably believe that's the key to a diamond's beauty, even with all this knowledge freely available.

This probably varies according to the part of the world too, in the UK I know that high clarity is still the thing, probably along with colour and when you speak of cut, it's almost always assumed it refers to shape. In Asia, both are definitely still preferred as we know.

It would be great for some of the experts to weigh in with their opinions and experiences as Paul has done.:wavey:
 
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When I hear lower colour, for me that is D-K coloured. Anything L-Z is a high colour stone.

Then again I’m a guy so might be a little meh on colour sensitivity.
 
bmfang said:
When I hear lower colour, for me that is D-K coloured. Anything L-Z is a high colour stone.

Then again I’m a guy so might be a little meh on colour sensitivity.
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That's because you're upside down.:mrgreen:
 
I'm not sure why the cut of the stone changes as the colour goes warmer - but I admit that I totally buy into the colourless aspect. When I'm looking for a stone, I rarely look below an E - and even then I think I could "do better". Cut comes first, but colour completely excludes options for me before I even look at the cuts.
 
There's no inherent reason why we should get married with diamond rings, but we do. And the diamond is supposed to be white. Most people want a white diamond because that is what you get when you get engaged. It certainly wasn't always that way.

I also think the symbolic purity of a white stone is important.

And i agree that marketing has a lot to do with it. How many times has someone found a jeweler offering an EGL "G" and telling the lovestruck kids that K is "almost brown" and "not suitable for fine jewelery" and "not something we would ever carry?"
 
ChristineRose said:
There's no inherent reason why we should get married with diamond rings, but we do. And the diamond is supposed to be white. Most people want a white diamond because that is what you get when you get engaged. It certainly wasn't always that way.

I also think the symbolic purity of a white stone is important.
...​
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I actually didn't think of "symbolism" until I read your posting, ChristineRose. I did not have a traditional engagement ring when I got married (we were far too poor!), so I do not think of diamonds and weddings together the way that most people do. Therefore, what you wrote above made me think.

When I went to try on wedding gowns I tried on an off-white/ivory colored one and a pure white one right off the bat. There was no doubt in my mind that the ivory one was more flattering. I am very fair, and the ivory just seemed to bring out some color. It was softer and more creamy. But I was 25 (about to be 26 when I got married) and it was my first wedding; I wanted to wear white. Not almost white. So I chose the less flattering color. Obviously I didn't feel I looked hideous in it, but the symbolism was powerful to me. I thought my fiancé would care, too, although he probably would not even have noticed!

Thank you for that insightful posting.

Deb :wavey:
 
I just prefer colorless Bc to my eyes, they coordinate better with every shade of metal and gemstones and they appear brighter! I have an I and when I compare it to a cubic Zirconia my stone feels almost dirty... sigh. But I compromised color for size—that’s for sure!
 
Given Chinese culture’s preference for red colour in happy occasions, am glad that I didn’t have to buy a red coloured diamond for my wife. I’d be broke 10 times over!

But yes, the symbolism of white at weddings is very important for a lot of folks (though it seems to me to be a Western import into Asian cultures).
 
I love warm diamonds in antique cuts especially, I have an O...but I also have a J with strong blue fluorescence and it looks I’ve white to me and that’s really pretty too. Not sure I need much whiter though, maybe because I’m not in my 20s.

However, I really have the same issue with flouresence. I am obsessed with strong blue but I can’t even find it in the in house whiteflash Stones it’s all marketing I think.
 
It’s been instill for ages that D color and high clarity is close to perfection and we all want perfection.
 
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