4c’s: Color
PostBy Avi Paz Group At 01.08.2010
The word "diamond" usually connotes a clear, brilliant, colorless stone, and while white diamonds are the most common, exposure to certain elements or chemical processes during formation can create colored diamonds.
Exposure to nitrogen creates yellow and brown diamonds, the most common hues after the white, or colorless, diamond. In fact, yellow and brown diamonds with low color saturation fall under the Gemological Institute of America's definition of "normal color range." According to the GIA scale, yellow diamonds rated D, E, or F are still called "colorless."
Diamonds with a color grade of G through J are called "nearly colorless," while K, L, and M denote "faint yellow." Grades N through R inclusive describe "very light yellow" diamonds with the remaining eight color grades, through Z, used for diamonds whose nitrogen-born tinge ranges from "light yellow" to "strong yellow."
Avi Paz Group's inventory features a wide selection of yellow and brown diamonds whose color grades extend from D to N.
The GIA classifies diamond colors other than brown and yellow as "fancy colored diamond" and uses a different scale to grade their hues. Avi Paz Group sells a fine selection of fancies, including pink diamonds and orange diamonds.
At the cool end of the color spectrum, diamonds in shades of blue and gray are created by exposure to boron. Rare green diamonds get their color from irradiation, and the cause of color in some brown, pink, and red diamonds is plastic deformation – irreversible changes in shape resulting from a defect or irregularity in the crystal structure.
Black diamonds, or Carbonado diamonds, are not pure black. The diamonds only appear to be black because of their high content of dark inclusions.
A diamond's cut, designed to maximize brilliance, can make it difficult to grade its color. A precise color grading cannot be determined by looking at a diamond from the top, and industry experts generally place a stone upside-down in a white grading trough and examine the diamond through its pavilion to accurately gauge its hue.
In addition to their basic color, diamonds are also described and certified according to their overtones and intensity.
Register with avipaz.com now and search our stock of diamonds. Our smart search allows you to define up to 16 parameters, including diamond color, shape, cut, and quality, to ensure that you find the perfect diamond.
