1930s Art Deco 0.71ct European Cut Diamond (K/SI3) Ring
18K White Gold, Single Cut Diamond Sides (sold)

The price of a diamond drops dramatically at the K color grade, which is the beginning of what’s considered “faint yellow.”  The diamond industry orients customers towards a particular range of color it deems acceptable: D being the rarest, and whitest, to J, which is the lower range of what’s considered “near colorless.”  To most eyes, diamonds in the D to J range look about the same without a point of comparison.  The diamond in the ring above is K, and the yellow tint is detectable against the whiter side stones, which are F-G color. 

I admit that I prefer colorless diamonds, mostly for their rarity.  But diamonds with a golden hue have a certain appeal too.  The warmth of color can soften their appearance.   And they’re also much, much more affordable that colorless diamonds.  But you also have to appreciate the color as a natural property of the stone and not a defect. The yellow tint was caused by atoms of nitrogen that bound to the crystal as it was forming— 100 miles beneath the earth’s surface more than 1 billion years ago.