Yellow diamonds are really very beautiful and are a great choice for an engagement ring if you want something that is truly unique and different. And of course, yellow diamonds are a perfect choice for an absolute stand-out dress ring or pendant. So if you are after something very special, a yellow diamond could be for you!
Yellow diamonds can be found in many differing shades of yellow and can have overtones of other colours such as green as well as yellow.
How Are Diamonds Graded For Colour?
The terminology used in grading white diamonds worldwide is now on a colour scale starting at D and ending at Z. The starting point for grading white diamonds is “D” colour, so D is the whitest diamond you can possibly have. At the other end of the alphabetical scale you start to see colour emerge in such a way that the diamonds take on a stronger distinct yellow colour. This can also head into the more brown colours, light champagne and cognac etc.
Yellow Diamonds are in fact at the far end of the grading spectrum, so once you go through the grades starting from white (D) and going down the scale, you get more and more tint within the diamond crystal body.
Beyond Z, we see what are known as the officially recognised “Fancy colours”. But in the X,Y and Z grades, we do still see some lovely light yellow coloured diamonds. There can be a little bit of an overlap between Y-Z and the “Fancy light” yellow grade. The yellow in the X,Y,Z range isn’t a really a strong colour, but could give you a far larger diamond for the money with a beautiful subtle yellow colour.
So lets review the grades from the top from white diamonds down;
D-F = colourless.
G-J = near colourless.
K-M = Faint Yellow.
N-R = Very light Yellow.
S-Z= light yellow.
Fancy Coloured Yellow Diamond Grade Levels:
“Fancy” Colour Yellow Diamonds are not given D-Z grade levels. They have their own grading scale as follows:
Fancy Light yellow.
Fancy Yellow.
Fancy Intense Yellow.
Fancy Vivid Yellow.
Fancy Deep Yellow.
Fancy Dark Yellow.
The most highly prized grade level are diamonds that are Intense Yellow and the Fancy Vivid Diamond grades.These are truly very yellow, as you can see from the photo below.
This photo shows a combination of E/F white diamonds, along with Fancy Intense Yellow Diamonds.
Are White Diamonds Graded Differently From Coloured Diamonds?
Yes! Diamond graders use a different approach when grading white diamonds as opposed to when they grade fancy coloured diamonds.
Only white diamonds are graded from the back of the stone. White diamonds are graded in this way so any tint within the crystal can be seen against a white background.
Coloured diamonds (yellow / pink etc.) are treated differently. They are graded from the front because the cut of a diamond plays such a massive role in colour enhancement.
Did you know that there are over 300 recognized shades of coloured diamonds? So as you can see it does get quite complicated.
Is There A Preferred Cut Shape That Will Produce A More Yellow Colour?
When deciding how to cut a gemstone, the cutter thinks about what will be the best cut to suit the gemstone that they have in front of them. Of course they want the most profitable outcome, and will cut the shape accordingly. If they are trying to produce the yellowest diamond for example, they would be very unlikely to cut an emerald cut or round brilliant cut. They would instead choose a radiant or cushion cut, as these particular cuts enhance the inherent yellow tint in the diamond, when viewed from the top. These two cut shapes make up around 70 – 80 % of the larger yellow stones that are cut.
Perhaps the Emerald cut shape would be the next most common. Not many cutters cut round diamonds from the yellow rough crystal.
The Clarity Grade of Coloured Diamonds
Yellow diamonds can have inclusions ( tiny imperfections) inside the crystal, just as white diamonds can. However, in a coloured diamond, the intensity of the colour is the most important feature. As a result, not quite as much emphasis is placed on the clarity grade of coloured diamonds. Having said that, the clarity of a coloured diamond should still not be dismissed, as it does still matter to the eye just how included a stone is.
Many inclusions in yellow diamonds will also take on a yellow look, just as in white diamonds many inclusions are white (remembering that in fact a “White” diamond is clear, not white).
Fancy Light Yellow Diamond Ring
The yellow diamond below was a 3.15 ct round brilliant cut in a fancy light yellow, if you look carefully you will see some of the inclusions that are in this diamond. The clarity grade here is in fact SI1, and as the photo shows it is a very clean example of the grade.
Click on the following link to view some of the engagement rings we have made over the years with beautiful yellow diamonds: yellow diamond engagement rings
