Color: How Does the Color Of a Diamond Impact Its Value?

Diamond color is rated on a scale from colorless through varying degrees of yellow and brownish tint. With the exception of fancy colored diamonds, the closer a white diamond is to “colorless”, the higher its value in the marketplace. Colorless diamonds allow more light to pass through and emit more brilliance and fire than “white” diamonds containing yellow or brownish color tints.

When selling diamonds to GoldFellow® your stones will be evaluated by a gemologist according to the diamond’s carat weight, the diamond’s cut, the diamond’s clarity and color. Our gemologists use the GIA color scale which grades diamond color from D – colorless through Z – noticeably light yellow. They compare your diamond to a master set of known colored stones under precise lighting conditions against a pure white background to establish the color grade of your diamond.  Truly colorless stones are rare and most diamonds used in jewelry contain some degree of tint which may not be visible to the naked eye.  For example, using the Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) diamond grading system, diamonds graded G – I in color are difficult to discern from truly colorless like those rated D, E and F and appear colorless to the untrained eye. Diamond color is caused by the composition of the diamond and never changes.

While the variations in diamond color may be imperceptible to an untrained eye and your diamond may sparkle in a pleasing manner, to a diamond buyer the greater the presence of color, the lower the value and the closer the diamond approaches to colorless, the higher the value.

Fancy colored diamonds are the exception to the color-equals-lower-value rule. Naturally colored diamonds (blue, yellow and even red, for example) are exceptionally rare in nature. Unlike white diamonds where colorless is most desirable, the richer and deeper the color saturation of a fancy colored diamond, the greater its value.

Diamond fluorescence is another characteristic of color which is often discussed in diamond grading. UV light passing through a diamond may cause a stone to take on a blue glow which can range from faint to strong depending on the diamond’s fluorescence.