The color of a diamond always plays a crucial role in ascertaining its quality. This factor is also a part of the 4Cs of diamond quality along with carat, cut and clarity. All these factors make it crystal clear that a diamond choice based on color should be made with great care. Bridal ring sets with J color diamonds are seen to cause a lot of debates. Most vendors, industry professionals, and pundits view this color as inferior.
Diamond Color Scale
The color scale from GIA is used for categorizing diamonds into different levels. This scale is widely accepted on the globe, and has even gained acceptance as an industry standard. The GIA color scale starts with the letter D, and goes on till it reaches the letter Z. Those stones with the highest quality fall at the beginning of this scale. The diamonds which fall in the range of D, E and F are considered to be the ones with the greatest value, as these are quite clear in appearance, owing to minimal presence of any color.
In the case of J grade diamonds, you get stones that are nearly colorless but not quite; next to that you have G, H and I stones, in that order. Stones which fall in the near-colorless range would look colorless when viewed from the top. From the sides, however, they would show visible traces of yellow or brown. If you go further down the scale, you would reach the K, L, and M grades. Diamonds that fall in this range show easily noticeable color. Stones between M and Z are considered to be of the lowest quality, and are also priced the lowest. Most stones in this range are hardly ever sold in jewelry.
From all this, it is clear that J grade diamonds lie towards the end of the near colorless diamond range, meaning beyond that grade, you would not be able to hide the color inside a stone by adjusting setting or lighting. J color diamonds are in fact cheaper than those in the higher color grades, but possess sufficient color quality to impress.
Yellow Tint in J Color Diamond
The color of diamond being too yellow or not is subjective to each person. One viewer may feel a stone to be too yellow, while another might only vaguely sense a warm tint. Diamonds that display a yellow tint are not all that bad; some people specifically choose warm diamonds for imparting an aesthetic beauty to their ring. A J color diamond, when it is compared to a D color stone, exhibits a faint yellow tint that can be seen when the two are held side by side against a white background. This factor often suffices to make a huge share of diamond purists reject the lower grade altogether.
However, a J color diamond when viewed from above, would look mostly colorless, and considering this is the direction from which most people view a diamond ring, you could buy one and expect it to make a good impression. Moreover, if a J color diamond is mounted on a proper setting with a suitable metal color, and is maintained well, it would become hard to spot any color even when viewing it from the side. People who are not absolute diamond purists choose J color diamonds when they want to get a judicious mix among the 4Cs. J color diamonds can also work well for shoppers clever enough to somehow mask a light yellow tint, using different jewelry components if need be.
J Diamonds and Settings
The J color diamond would be a good option if you wanted to reduce the overall price of your chosen diamond. This could be done without discounting your preference for an awesome diamond centerpiece. If you want to fully hide the tints of yellow coming out of a stone, you would need to pay more attention to its setting. The foremost thing to think about is the metal color of your ring. It is this metal that is going to act as background for the stone. It is this that influences how you perceive the stone, and how light is reflected out from it.
Both white gold and platinum are good at making the tint of yellow in your stone more notable, for people who want that effect. The yellow tints in a diamond tend to stand out when the stone is set against a radiant white metal. However, pairing a J color diamond with yellow or rose gold tends to make it more colorless. It is up to the buyer which way they want to go here, but it bears considering their own skin tone, as well as other factors.