The most commonly purchased diamonds are those that are near-colorless, often with a faint yellowish tint, falling around the G to J range in color. These are more common than completely colorless diamonds, yet in most cases appear white or clear to the naked eye.
Diamonds occur in a variety of colors—steel gray, white, blue, yellow, orange, red, green, pink to purple, brown, and black. Colored diamonds contain interstitial impurities or structural defects that cause the coloration; pure diamonds are perfectly transparent and colorless.
Cloudy diamonds clarity grades.
Instead, many microscopic inclusions spread within the diamond similar to within a suspension. As a result, the passage of light slows and a milky appearance through the diamond. Unlike low clarity diamonds with visible marks, such diamonds appear clear, with no visible inclusions.
What Makes White Diamonds White? Under the formation of diamonds, pure carbon and nitrogen impurities will determine the color. However, white diamonds do get their color due to the presence of more sub-microscopic inclusions.
Diamond Clarity Refers to the Absence of Inclusions and Blemishes.
A real diamond of decent quality will refract light so intensely that you can't see through it. On the other hand, cubic zirconia is more transparent, and you'll be able to see right through it.
The four main optical characteristics of diamonds are transparency, luster, dispersion of light, and color. In its pure carbon form, diamond is completely clear and transparent.
A real diamond appears gray and white inside (brilliance) when held to the light and can reflect rainbow colors (fire) onto other surfaces. A fake diamond will display rainbow colors within the stone when held up to light.
We all love how a diamond shines in the sunlight. Test your stone by putting it in direct sunlight and examining the colors it reflects. A real diamond will reflect both rainbow colors as well as white light. If you only get one of the two, then the diamond isn't real.
Diamond fluorescence that also exists within the D through I color grades will most often appear hazy. Similarly, D through G color grade diamonds with medium fluorescence also appears milky. However, a blue fluorescence makes the diamond seem transparent.
A diamonds color never changes with time and because a colorless diamond is much like clear glass, it allows more light to pass through it then colored diamonds giving them their sparkle and inner fire. Colored diamonds are graded differently then colorless or white diamonds and is important to remember when choosing.
Light is everything. It's the source of a diamond's beauty. Without light, there are no reflections. No sparkle.
The diamond industry has established four basic criteria for judging the quality and value of precious stones, commonly known as the “Four Cs:” cut, color, clarity, and carat. However, to ensure identical across-the-board diamond grading and appraisal, the GIA similarly created grading systems for each category.
You see, diamonds are a magnet for grease/oil as their surfaces muck up easily. A dirty stone doesn't sparkle because light simply can't enter the diamond and causes it to appear dull.
Using cold water is a much simpler and safer way to test the validity of a diamond. If you place the stone into water, a real diamond will sink to the bottom due to the density. Fake diamonds are far more likely to float or bobble around.
Hold it in the light to see how it sparkles.
A fake diamond will have rainbow colors that you can see inside the diamond. “People have a misconception that diamonds sparkle like a rainbow, but they don't,” Hirsch said. “They do sparkle, but it's more of a gray color.
This is the stage before they are actually cut or polished in order to create the marvelous diamonds found in all of our unique jewelry. To the uneducated eye, rough diamonds look more like a shard of glass that can be found anywhere. They are dull, oily looking and come in many colors.
An ideal cut diamond shows only a few intensely bright flashes in direct sunlight. A diamond that actually looks good in sunlight splits those few flashes up into ten or twenty smaller sparkles.
While a diamond may look cloudy and milky because of inclusions, strong fluorescence, or even a poor cut grade, those aren't the only reasons it may have appeared to lose its stunning shine.
Glass is more transparent in comparison to diamond. Meaning one cannot see or read as clear through a diamond as they can through a glass.
The bonds in diamonds are held in such a tight structure that all light passes around them, which is why diamonds look transparent. In coal and graphite, light gets trapped between the atoms, which is why they look dark and opaque.
It is very rare to find a diamond that doesn't give any color at all, many gem-size diamonds will have slight hues or coloration due to natural processes during the gemstone's formation. In fact, diamonds are found in almost any naturally occurring color, including gray, white, yellow, green, brown and pink.
Colorless Diamonds: The Most Rare
It may be surprising to learn that some of the rarest diamonds are colorless diamonds. These are what we typically call white diamonds, even though we are referring to clear diamonds.
Clarity Rating of Your Diamond
The clarity rating of your diamond is another essential element to understand. A flawless diamond has no inclusions or surface imperfections, while a poor clarity quality will have inclusions that can be spotted by the unaided eye and may even have chips or other surface aberrations.