COLOR	DESCRIPTION	IMPORTANCE
D-E-F colorless	A,B and C are not used to avoid confusion with some dealers' grades. While all three grades are considered colorless there is a visible difference between D and F.	Color has no impact on brilliance although a diamond with a tint of silver will often seem more brilliant. Poor cutting will make a white diamond appear duller than it should. Florescence will make a diamond appear whiter than it really is and will be visible when the diamond is viewed in natural light vs. florescent light (a simple test).
G-H	A very slight trace of color which will only be noticeable when compared to a diamond of D, E, or F color.	The untrained eye can usually only detect a color difference when there is greater than two grades of variance so this grade will be perfectly white to most people.
I	A slight trace of color (yellow) which will also be noted by most people when compared to a whiter diamond.	This is usually a very good buy in the current market as the demand trend is increasingly toward whiter diamonds.
J, JK	A noticeable tint of color, sometimes called "top light silver" when the diamond exhibits a silver tint when view from the top.	A very good choice for diamonds mounted against a yellow gold background or around a colored gemstone as the visual reference will mask the trace of color.
K-L-M	Distinct tint of yellow toward brown. Often called "top light brown" for the perceived color when viewed from the top.	Up until last year this was a very popular choice by consumers as it offered a very good price to size ratio. Very common in tennis bracelets. Today the demand is so white oriented that most low priced jewelry is set with white diamonds of very low clarity (snowcones). Unfortunately there is very little savings to be had in this lower color, probably due to limited supply from the cutters.
N-LB-BROWN, CHAMPAGNE, COGNAC, COFFEE	Very distinct brown tint; no reference required.	This is the color that started the "Champagne before breakfast" campaign. In the mining process, all sorts of colors come up, including pure black. The diamond cartels, especially Argyle (Australia) have a large horde of these off color diamonds which they would love to turn into a marketable product. Expect to see another attempt in 10 years or so.
FANCY YELLOW	Bright, intense yellow
PINK and RED	From faint pink through intense hot pink and extremely rare intense red
BLUE, GREEN, PURPLE	Light blue occurs naturally, most of these colors are induced by radiation