Diamond Colour Grade
White diamonds are graded for colour using two main methods.
The first is comparison with stones of known colour and the second is similar but uses hi tech calibrated digital systems. A white diamond of perfect pure white with no trace of colour will receive a grade of ‘D’. The white diamond colour scale descends in quality from ‘D’ to ‘Z’.
During normal everyday conditions the human eye sees colour tints in white diamonds graded between ‘H’ down to ‘Z’. For this reason Metal Urges only supply white diamonds graded ‘G’ or higher. It needs to be noted that the human eye (in normal conditions) also has trouble seeing the difference between diamonds with colour gradings higher than ‘G’.
A ‘G’ coloured white diamond can be as much as 40% cheaper than a diamond of ‘D’ colour, and therefore represents far better value. At Metal Urges we can source and supply diamonds of ‘D’ and ‘E’ grade colour for clients interested in the purest stones for investment purposes.
For more than a decade
Metal Urges has carefully tested what the human eye can and cannot detect in terms of colour when it comes to white diamonds. The results have determined what we recommend to our clients. For white diamonds over 0.75ct in weight we only offer ‘F’ colour and upwards.
Under 0.75ct we recommend ‘G’ colour and no lower. As the size of a white diamond increases the visible colour saturation also grows, thus larger stones show more colour. To avoid a large expensive stone potentially showing an unappealing off white colour, going up a grading to ‘F’ preserves the quality.
As qualified diamond graders Metal Urges grade diamonds in house at our store in Hobart, Tasmania. White diamonds with a weight over 0.25ct generally come with a GIA certification through Metal Urges. A GIA diamond certificate independently states an individual diamond’s gradings.
Metal Urges also supply a range of premium coloured natural diamonds including Argyle pink diamonds, yellow diamonds, Argyle champagne diamonds, Argyle cognac diamonds, blue diamonds and green diamonds. These more unusual coloured diamonds fall into very different grading systems.