For the layman, a diamond is just a shiny stone that reflects light really well. However, understanding how a diamond is graded and priced would answer all the questions regarding what makes one diamond better than the other.
In earlier times, there was no universal system available for diamond grading. Back then, diamonds were graded mainly based on simple visual understanding. And different people valuing the same diamond priced it differently based on their own perceptions. It was only in the last century that a globally acceptable grading standard was developed.

This standard is known as the “4Cs” system of grading diamonds and is based on “Colour”, “Clarity”, “Cut” and “Carat Weight” of a diamond. Among these, the first two – Colour and Clarity are natural occurrences in diamonds and we rarely have any control over these. The other two – Cut and Carat Weight are defined by the manner in which a diamond is cut and polished.

In this blog, I am going to go over the very first “C” of diamond grading – the “Color” of a diamond.

Interesting Trivia: When we talk about the colour of a diamond, we actually refer to the lack of colour in that particular diamond. The purest diamonds that contain no other elements than carbon are colourless. The colourless diamonds are the rarest. Most diamonds have some form of impurity elements other than carbon inside of them which absorb certain wavelengths of light causing diamonds to appear yellow, blue or other wide spectrum of colours.

The whiter or more colourless the diamond, the higher is its value. As per the grading system and chart defined by the Gemmological Institute of America, diamond colours range from D to Z – D being the purest, completely colourless diamond. Colour inclusions in a diamond then increase in a sliding scale all the way down to Z.

Diamonds that fetch the highest value are generally graded D to F in colour. However, these are rare to find and extremely costly to own. Then there are grades G to I, wherein diamonds are visually colourless to the naked and untrained eye. As you go down the grade scale, say J to M, tinges and hints of yellow or brown colour start creeping into the diamonds.

When it comes to diamond studded jewelry, there are a few tricks that can make a diamond appear slightly better in color than it actually is. The right metal shade can definitely complement the appearance of the color of your diamond. For example, if you set a diamond with slight yellow tint in white gold setting, the diamond will appear to be less yellowish due to internal reflection of white metal around it. Similarly, a yellowish stone set in yellow gold will look even more yellowish.

Hard Fact: Grading a diamond’s colour is very difficult using naked eye. Most labs have a set of “master stones” that define the highest and lowest limits of acceptable colour or lack of it within a stone. A trained gemmologist keeps placing the diamond to be graded right next to different master stones and compares their shades until the diamond’s shade matches the colour of one of the master stones. The diamond gets the colour grade of its closest matching master stone.

Thus began the love story of a man with diamonds. That love story started around 3000 years ago. The far forgotten land was some place in the Southern part of India (as per popular belief). And the man who found the first diamond… Well, no one really knows who found the first diamond. What is definitely known though is that since then men have done the most amazing and romantic things with these sparkling stones to celebrate their beauty.

Interesting Trivia: For nearly 500 years, diamonds were known only in India. The rest of the world had no idea that such an exquisite stone existed!

So who introduced diamonds to the rest of the world?

Some historical facts point the finger toward Alexander the Great of Macedonia. It is believed that he first took diamonds back to Europe with him when he returned to Greece after his conquest of India. That would mean diamonds travelled from India to Europe sometime around 327 BC. That’s even before Christ was born!

Maybe the ancient Indians knew about the value of diamonds and used them in jewellery… or maybe they did not. There’s no record. But what is historically known is that in the second century AD, a Hungarian queen had diamonds set on her new crown. Much later, in 1477 AD, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, presented an engagement ring to his soon to be queen – Mary of Burgundy. The ring was set with diamonds and it started a trend of getting engaged with a diamond ring which continues till date.

Going back to the 13th century, cutting and polishing of natural diamonds was still an unknown process. No one knew how to cut diamonds until the late 13th century. It was only in 1375 that the Point Cut was created. Up until then, only the best naturally formed diamonds were used for jewellery or decorative purposes. The rest were discarded.
Fact: Until the 14th century, only best naturally formed diamonds were used for jewellery or decorative purposes; the rest were discarded since no one knew how to cut and polish the stones.

Increasingly thereafter, various new cuts were developed. The demand of diamonds as objects of desire and their use in jewellery grew substantially.

In the 18th century, India ran out of diamonds, but new supplies were discovered in Brazil. About a century and a half later, South Africa took over as the diamond producing capital of the world. It was South Africa that gave birth to the world’s largest diamond producing organization – the De Beers Corporation. As newer diamond deposits were discovered in various countries around the world, the reach of diamonds increased. What was once an object of desire and flaunted by only the rich and elite, started reaching the masses.

In the last couple of centuries, these stunningly brilliant stones have gone through many upheavals and changes, but their allure and attraction has remained unchanged.