The Coloration Grades Of Diamonds

By: chridiamond | Posted: 09th August 2010

The Colour Grades Of Diamonds

In terms of the 4Cs of diamonds, shade, or lack of it, is an particularly important characteristic. Diamonds are given letter grades to indicate the extent of colour, starting with the letter D for a flawless, colorless diamond. Why D, and not C, B, or A? The reason we've heard is that when diamonds started being graded for colour with this scale, it was decided to start with D, to leave room for the extremely rare possibility that a diamond could be found that was even more flawless than flawless. It hasn't happened but!

The color grades of D, E and F are the rarest and most colorless. The gradations in color can only be seen by an knowledgeable gemologist. The grades G-H are called near colorless and the distinction may be seen by an off-the-cuff observer only when in comparison with a higher-grade diamond. A stone on this grade class is a superb value. The grades I-J are also near colorless, but not to the identical extent as G-H. These are also an excellent value.

The colour grades move up the dimensions to Z, with an growing amount of color. These are inferior gem-high quality stones and should not be confused with canary or different coloured diamonds. Colored diamonds are graded in another way than white diamonds and are also extremely prized amongst collectors. They're particularly lovely when combined with white diamonds. Think about that the Hope Diamond, some of the well-known diamonds, is a wealthy blue color. Out of all colored diamonds, a red diamond is the rarest of all.

The colors in coloured diamonds come from impurities between the cells of the crystals, or structural defects. There are many totally different colours that diamonds can come in, but they're limited to steel gray, white, blue, yellow, orange, purple, green, pink to purple, brown, and black
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Tags: colours, distinction, impurities, gradations, cells, crystals, colored diamonds, white diamonds