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Definition
The amount or presence of body color in a diamond.
Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow, even more shades
than any colored gemstone. The most rare diamond colors are red,
pink, green, and blue. Diamonds that display enough of a hue,
or nuance of color to be desirable, are called fancy-colored diamonds.
The absence of color in diamonds is most rare and highly prized.
Most diamonds mined in nature have traces of yellow, some brown
or gray. Color is caused in diamonds by minute traces of other
elements, such as nitrogen = yellow and boron = blue.
Color is an important factor to beauty, rarity and value because
it is something a consumer can see without the aid of equipment.
The range of color most often represented and sold in jewelry
stores are:
GIA grades D - J
The colorless to the near colorless ranges.
Color and its Relation to Value
Color is an important factor in the purchase of a diamond and
can effect the price by 5 - 20% on each increment of the diamond
grading scale. Since it is a factor a consumer can see, careful
examination of each diamond under consideration is advised. This
is especially true when considering a fancy-shaped diamond. For
example, an emerald shaped diamond reveals the body color and
clarity much more than other shapes, where even a slight trace
of color may be easily discerned.
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