Why Diamond Coloration Grading Begins at D – What About A, B and C?

Folks usually surprise why the colour grading scale begins at D and never at A. The reply to that is really a quite simple one. At one time, the colour scale really did begin at A. Along with beginning at A, shade methods had been additionally assigned numbers (0, 1, 2,3), Roman Numerals (I, II, III) and even (AA). Classifications similar to “gem blue” “high quality white” or “blue white” had been used as shade descriptions. These shade grading methods had been loosely utilized and sometimes occasions, inaccurate and inconsistent. Early on, when the diamond commerce developed, diamond grades had been developed by numerous events inside the commerce. These unique scales by no means included the letter D and when the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) created the brand new scale in 1953, they determined to begin contemporary with a letter that was not part of the earlier grading system.

The GIA scale is now the official shade grading scale and has common acceptance amongst laboratories and trades-people. This present scale ranges from D to Z, with D being colorless to Z which is a light-weight yellow or brown. The time period shade with regard to diamonds really refers to its lack of shade and the much less shade a diamond has, the rarer and extra useful it’s. Brown or yellow diamonds which have extra intense shade than Z on the grading scale are thought of “fancy colours”. These diamonds are graded by a separate system solely and this similar system is usually used for grading coloured gem stones like rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.