COLOR AND FLAWS
C
OLOR is one of the
most important qualities of the diamond. Generally, fine color means
the absence of color, or a pure, clean, colorless transparency. As
tints appear in it, the stone is called off-color, which means that the
color is not good. Tints of pink and blue, however, are considered
extra fine. So also fine color sometimes means a rich or rare color as
the term is usually applied, as pink, green, blue, yellow, etc., for
the diamond occurs in these and other colors in various tints and
shades.
Color
in diamonds is the opportunity of many dealers, and the despair of
others, for it is very deceptive, and the public is so confident about
what it thinks it sees. What it really does see is not always inherent,
but is reflected into the stone from the gold in which it is set, or
by conditions of the light under which it is seen.
Usually
the diamond is white with a tint of yellow, brown, or green. The
yellow-tinted are by far the most common, the brown are abundant, but
the green are comparatively few and come mostly from one district, i.
e., Bahia in Brazil. Absolutely colorless, or white stones, are rare;
so also are those having a bluish tint. All these are included in the
general term " white," to distinguish them from the " fancies," which are stones of
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