COLOR
The color is a very important characteristic for a diamond and it is also the main element that influences our appreciation of a gem, especially when mounted on a jewel.
Color categories
Gems with no color and transparent, the purest ones, are called “colorless”, followed by the “near colourless” and by the coloured ones called “slightly tinted”.
Color grading scales
The Gemological Institute of America (G.I.A.) classifies all diamonds, even those of yellow colour with a low saturation, as diamonds according to the normal colour grading and follows the scale from D (exceptional white) to Z (pale yellow).
Color Scale
The most prestigious white diamonds are in letters D-E-F, with a decreasing value from D to Z. In jewellery the most used stones are from letter G to H.
- D= superior exceptional white;
- E= exceptional white;
- F= superior extra white;
- G= extra white;
- H= white;
- I= slightly tinted white;
- J-K-L-M-N= slightly tinted yellow;
- O-P-Q-R= Tinted yellow;
- S-Z= From yellow grade to pure yellow.
Carat
The word carat comes from the carob seeds used to weigh stones in the past. The diamond weight determines its size and its diameter. Find out more.
Clarity
Clarity is the main element to dermine the value of a diamond for investement or of a precious stone.
Cut
The cut can be described as the man’s contibution to the beauty of a diamond, it is the way a stone or a diamond is cut.
Fluorescence
Fluorescence is the visible light which is released from some diamonds when exposed to the ultraviolet light, invisible to the naked eye. Find out more.