Color

Acting as a prism, a diamond can divide light into a spectrum of colors and reflect this light as colorful flashes called fire. Just as when looking through colored glass, color in a diamond will act as a filter, and will diminish the spectrum of color emitted. The less color in a diamond, the more colorful the fire, and the better the color grade.

Diamond Color

	D	Absolutely colorless. The highest color grade, which is extremely rare.
	E	Colorless. Only minute traces of color can be detected by an expert gemologist. A rare diamond.
	F	Colorless. Slight color detected by an expert gemologist, but still considered a "colorless" grade. A high-quality diamond.
	G-H	Near-colorless. Color noticeable when compared to diamonds of better grades, but these grades offer excellent value.
	I-J	Near-colorless. Color slightly detectable. An excellent value.
	K-M	Noticeable color.
	N-Z	Noticeable color.

How important is color when selecting a diamond?
Color is the second most important aspect when choosing a diamond. When looking at a diamond, the human eye notices the diamond's cut first and its color second. Color becomes especially important when considering diamonds of larger size, since the additional light reflected from a larger diamond can make the color more noticeable. Additionally, diamond shapes with step facets, such as Asscher or Emerald, reflect less light and therefore show more color than their more faceted counterparts.