Diamonds are graded on a color scale of D through Z, based on the degree of colorlessness. Color Quality is critical because the more colorless the diamond the greater its rarity and value. Although many diamonds appear colorless to the untrained eye the majority contain slight traces of yellow, brown or grey. At Boston Ring and Gem we adhere to the defined d to z scale of GIA/AGS laboratories. Every stone is individually examined by our in-house gemologist to verify the accuracy of the grading reports and or quality documents that accompany it. Since color grades are in fact a range each letter grade can further be sub-divided to better describe the value of a diamond, for example G+, G, G- the first represents a strong G closer to an F in color, the second G lower than the first grade and finally a G that is closer to an H but is still in the G range, each of these three stones is priced differently because of the variation of color within the range.
We recommend DEF colors for those who don’t want any trace of color, GHI for those who don’t mind a slight tint. For fancy shapes diamonds we recommend G color or better because fancy shapes do not mask color like a round brilliant diamond. Color is a matter of personal preference and nature is beautiful in all shades, For value oriented buyers we recommend higher colors over clarity, color being much more noticeable from a casual viewing distance than a clarity grade of VS2 or SI1.