A Comprehensive Look at the Diamond Color Chart

by Warda K. SEO Professional

There are several factors that affect the value of a diamond, color being one of them. Now when we say color of a diamond, we actually mean the lack of color. Color of diamonds refers to the absence of any color in a diamond. The more colorless a diamond is, the more is its brilliance and the higher is its value.

Diamonds come in a diverse array of colors, including pink, blue, yellow and so on. Every color holds a different value. Some are quite highly prized as well. However, a white diamond with a tinge of yellow is relatively lower in price.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has developed a color diamond scale that grades color from D (colorless) to Z (significantly colored). All the diamonds that fall in between D – Z are originally white in color. The color grade of a diamond just determines the lack of other shades over it. Then there are naturally fancy colored diamonds (pinks, blues and yellows), however these are graded on a different color chart.

Following is the GIA’s diamond color chart with explanations along with each color grade. This chart is divided into five categories, each a few color grades.

Colorless

This category contains three color shades (D, E and F). While all these three grades are colorless, there are just slight differences in the color tone of D, E and F diamonds. This variation is so minor that it can only be recognized by an expert gemologist.

Near Colorless

This category contains four color shades (G, H, I and J). These diamonds contains very minute traces of color. They are appropriate for a white gold or platinum setting.

Faint Color

This category contains three color shades (K, L and M). These diamonds contains a slightly yellow tint, which upon close observation, can also be seen by naked eye. It is due to this yellow color tint K-colored diamonds are on average half the price of G-colored diamonds.

Very Light Color

This category contains five color shades (N, O, P, Q and R). The diamonds that fall in this color range have quite a noticeable yellow tint, and are therefore less pricey than the faint color diamonds.

Light Color

The final category in the diamond color chart is the Light Color category which contains eight color shades (S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z). The diamonds that fall in this category contain a significant amount of color. The color shade is too high for a white diamond. Due the low color grading of these diamonds, they are quite less in demand and also the least expensive among all the other color categories of diamonds.

Make sure to have the color of diamonds, you intend to buy, checked by an expert gemologist before putting up your hard earned money into it.