Diamonds come in a wide range of colours - they are available in yellow, red, green, blue, brown and black. The vast majority, however, are colourless to almost colourless gemstones. The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has developed an internationally valid grading scale for these. It ranges from the top quality colour D to the recognizably tinted colour Z. In a somewhat rougher subdivision, the individual letters are grouped into six groups:
Very fine white (D and E), fine white (F and G), white (H), slightly tinted white (I and J), tinted white (K and L); the remaining levels up to Z are called tinted.
The colour and its significance for the radiance of a diamond
Diamonds with a pure white color have the highest value because they have the most beautiful optical effect. The fascinating thing about these colorless gemstones is that the light is reflected in them in the entire color spectrum of the rainbow. However, this effect only comes into its full beauty with completely colorless diamonds.
The special position of fancy diamonds
Completely different evaluation criteria apply to colored diamonds (fancy diamonds) . For these extremely rare gemstones—only one in 100,000 diamonds is a fancy diamond—a vibrant color is particularly sought after. Desired shades include a vibrant canary yellow, deep blue, or intense pink.
Determining the color
The color differences between the individual quality levels are very small and barely visible to the naked eye. This makes the classification of diamonds a difficult undertaking. For this purpose, the GIA uses strictly standardized comparison stones, with the help of which specialists classify the color of the gemstones under standardized viewing conditions.
The Color – the Old Terms
The so-called Old Terms have now been replaced by the GIA designations, but you can still find them from time to time. The color River (D, E) corresponds to the highest quality, followed by Top Wesselton (F, G) , Wesselton (H), Top Crystal (I) , Crystal (J, K), Top Cape (L) and Cape (M, N).
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