COLOR

D-F: Colourless diamonds, the rarest and highest quality with a pure icy look. They are much rarer than others which is why they come with a higher pricing premium.

G-H: Near-colourless diamonds, no discernible color; great value for the quality. H graded diamonds are often considered on the border between premium colorless and tinted diamonds and therefore offer great value without any visible yellow or brown tint unless compared side by side with a whiter diamond.

I-J: Near-colourless, slightly tinted. If you are looking to maximize your budget, then I-J colored diamonds offer great value for money.

K: Faint color diamonds, slightly tinted. Budget-friendly pick; pairs beautifully with yellow gold. 

At HONN Fine Jewelry we offer diamond color grade only from D to K.

We do not recommend color grades L-Z due to noticeably yellow or brown tinting which do not meet the quality and value standards at HONN.

Fancy Coloured Diamond Grading

While the vast majority of diamonds fall in the D-to-Z color range, mother nature occasionally produces diamonds with a naturally occurring blue, brown, pink, deep yellow, or even green hue. The geological conditions required to yield these colors are rare, making diamonds with distinct and naturally occurring shades scarce and highly prized.

GIA describes color in terms of hue (the actual color  – i.e., red, blue, green, or anything in between), tone (the relative lightness or darkness of the color), and saturation (how strong or weak the color is). 

Coloured diamonds are graded with the terms, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Deep, which describes the combined effect of tone and saturation.

In the Fancy Color market, one thing that signifies the value is the quality of the diamond’s color. Whilst the cut is important for Fancy Colours, it is in the sense of which cut that brings out the stone’s color which matters and not the cut which maximizes symmetry.

At HONN Fine Jewelry, we offer coloured diamonds, from Fancy Light to Fancy Deep.

Are diamonds graded as Zs considered fancy-color?

No. Naturally colorued diamonds outside the normal color range D-Z are called fancy-coloured diamonds. A diamond which has more yellow hue than a Z diamond becomes a fancy coloured diamond and is significantly higher valued. These fancy coloured diamonds are considered either yellow or brown diamonds.