Do Colorless Diamonds Sparkle More?

Sparkle is probably one of the ultimate deciding factors when choosing the best engagement ring. Of course, who wants a dull diamond ring?!

Needless to say, colorless diamonds sparkle more. ✨ However, that is not always the case when the diamond is in the wrong metal setting and cut.

These diamonds have a pure colorless appearance, but in a sense that it has only 99.99% of yellow tints. And because of that, they can reflect more light than other color grades.

It is able to reflect more light because of its untainted crystal transparency. And the more light is reflected, the more brilliant and radiant the sparkle of a diamond is.

But even so, you won’t get its total sparkle if you set it in yellow gold metal and worse, if it’s poorly cut. 🤷

METAL BASE FACTOR

Colorless diamonds sparkle more when set in white or platinum gold metal base. Because just like in toothpaste commercials, we want to avoid the appearance of yellow tints here. So if you set a colorless diamond to a yellow gold base, the yellowness of the gold will certainly mix into the stone. Therefore, making a colorless diamond appear yellowish and reduce its ability to reflect light.

Imagine two glasses of water and put a mango or orange juice powder in the other. You have one clear glass of water and another tinted by powdered juice. If you put them somewhere with natural light, which one do you think will sparkle more?

That’s also how a metal base affects the sparkle of a colorless diamond. Besides, why would you buy a colorless diamond if you’ll just make it look yellow, right?

CUT FACTOR

To get the best out of a colorless diamond’s sparkle, you’d have to invest into an excellent cut. An excellent cut ensures that there are no yellow areas left in the stone and that light is reflected in all directions.

Cut plays a very important role in a diamond’s spectacular light show. It either leaves a colorless diamond a single bright light or spreads it out with a rainbow-like spectrum of colors called “fire”.

It acts as the mirror inside the diamond that reflects light. And the more mirrors faced in different directions inside, the more light is reflected that gives a twinkling star effect -- only with 50+ sides not just five! 🌟

In contrast, if a colorless diamond is poorly cut, the ring might just look like a tiny lightsaber -- but in white. 🤦

Apparently, sparkle is not dependent on color alone. Nonetheless, colorless diamonds sparkle more because of its transparent characteristic. But in reality, choosing a diamond ring is like an orchestra, all 4C’s must be in harmony with each other to get the best result. 🎶

Sources: Your Diamond Teacher, Fashionista, With Clarity, GIA