DIAMOND COLOUR

Most diamonds appear colourless but actually have slight tones of yellow or brown. The closer the stone comes to colourless, the more valuable it is. Diamonds are graded on a colour scale ranging from D (colourless) to Z (heavily tinted). Only a highly skilled professional will detect any colour in E or F stones, and the colour in diamonds rated up to J will be virtually invisible when set in a ring or other jewellery.

Colour is only one of the Four C's, so even when a stone has a visible tint, such as K or above, it can still be very lovely if it has good clarity and cut. How the diamond is set can make a difference, too; you might not want to put a truly colourless diamond in a yellow gold setting since the yellow colour will reflect in the stone. On the other hand, a slightly yellow stone will appear whiter in a yellow gold setting.

Diamonds also come in a wide variety of other colours, including red, blue, green and a bright yellow known as canary. These are graded as Z+ and are known as fancy diamonds. Ones with good colour are very rare and can sell for much more per carat than white diamonds.