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Author Topic: Tips on Gauging Color?  (Read 1037 times)
dovesgate
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« on: August 10, 2011, 06:58:07 PM »
Does anyone have any good tips or tricks to pinpoint what color range a diamond is (while looking at it in real life)?
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oldmancoyote
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« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2011, 07:53:40 PM »
Use a piece of white cardboard - non-fluorescent if possible (many paper stocks are fluorescent), in natural indirect light and look at the diamond through the side. Kassoy sells them at $5.95 for 25 http://www.kassoy.co...tor_paper_pk-25.html

To make a good call you need to train your eye -  a set of master CZ will set you off $300 or so, or ask your friendly diamond dealer to show you a few different colour stones, but practice is what is needed.
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dovesgate
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« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2011, 03:04:27 PM »
None of the diamond dealers around here have colored diamonds unfortunately. They are all mall stores as far as I have seen.

Have you ever seen one of those charts that has The different shades of yellow on them starting from d-f down to y-z? Are those even slightly accurate? My pawn shop pal has a light yellow pear that I'd love to know the color of for future reference since Hubs says it's not yellow enough. It's light enough that my pal didnt realize she had a yellow until I pointed it out to her.
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DiamondsAreForever
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« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2011, 04:19:34 PM »
I'm sure we've all seen this.

http://diamondsbylau...iamond_grading.shtml
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oldmancoyote
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« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2011, 07:12:42 PM »
Charts are rather useless - printing and screens are rarely calibrated for colour, and many of the charts actually introduce grey rather than yellow (or brown) to show the darker D-Z shades.

Photos may be better, but you still have the issue of screen calibration, camera calibration and lighting conditions/environment. You can (roughly) compare David's pictures among themselves because they are taken in very similar conditions using the same camera (or two), but comparing them on an uncalibrated screen to a "live" stone in a completely different environment is not going to work too well.

The problem is so big that professional photographers will take photos with reference colours in the background, so that the printing and/or displaying can be calibrated for colours and lighting - as in the image below:
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Diamondsbylauren
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« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2011, 11:51:05 PM »
Cool discussion.
That's a cool "calibration" tool OMC!

Our chart is sorely in need of a refresh.
But what i would say is that we do offer folks the opportunity to look at many stones in the shades U-V all the way to Fancy intense- as OMC points out, that can be compared amongst themselves.

Trying to grade color in real life is a totally different thing.
In the photos, we depend on the viewer's context to "reinforce" the color they can already perceive.
In other words I can display a photo and label it- Fancy Yellow ( for example)
The viewer see the color, and associates it.
But trying to guess a color of an undermined diamond, in an undetermined environment is impossible.
If the stone is mounted, the best possible is a very rough guess.
If the stone is loose, a grader would use "color master" stones to assign the grade.
Or you could simply use GIA graded stones.
In the old days, a buyer would go overseas to buy loose diamond in a relatively unfamiliar environment.
He would bring a stone who's color he was familiar with to use for comparison.
I have a great office for color grading.
I like to think I can usually guess the color grade of stones when I see them here, loose- without comparison stones
But if I was in a pawn shop, I'd never be able to grade without comparison stones..
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dovesgate
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« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2011, 03:07:21 PM »
Its currently mounted in 14kt yellow gold. I looked at the pictures here but I'm so inexperienced that the O-P and the M pears look the same color to me.

Thanks for the assistance guys. I was hoping it would be fairly easy to guesstimate but there's nothing like experience.
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oldmancoyote
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« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2011, 03:41:56 PM »
You aren't exactly choosing an easy task. Grading faint yellow in a yellow gold setting is probably among the most difficult thing to do, and even professionals would usually give split grades, so don't feel bad if all you can say is "faint yellow".
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oldmancoyote
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« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2011, 03:44:20 PM »
Quote from: Diamondsbylauren on August 11, 2011, 11:51:05 PM
Cool discussion.
That's a cool "calibration" tool OMC!

Grin I'm calibrating my eyes against it every night, now that it hangs in the bedroom.
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ah2bqat
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« Reply #9 on: August 13, 2011, 04:42:05 PM »
Now that's a beautiful dream caller, OMC.  I envy you.
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