Also check out this woman's consumer perspective.

The second "C" I am going to discuss in the Engagement Ring Handbook is Diamond Color and a bit of the basic color scale. The scale goes from D-Z with D being colorless. The rating for gem quality White diamonds is generally D-H though some stores will sell diamonds rated K-M, generally as earrings or "promotional" lower quality/cost items.

What you need to know:

The GIA, aka Gemological Institute of America, has an even simpler designation. Most laymen (and laywomen!) can't tell a difference to the naked eye within three steps of the color scale. This thought is confirmed by the GIA's secondary rating process.

D-E are designated as "Colorless"

G-J are "Near Colorless"

K-M are "Faint Yellow" and so on.

Between these distinctions you can definitely tell one from the other, but it is up to you to decide if a diamond that is one or two color grades above is worth a few extra hundred or (depending on size, and the other factors) thousand dollars.

The only exception I can find with the color scale influencing the price of the diamond is when either the cut or clarity is worse, or the diamond is NON WHITE. Colored diamonds fall into their own category "Z+" and are graded a bit differently than white diamonds.

This should help you get started, and help with understanding the color of the Diamonds you're buying and how that influences the "5th C", Cost. Thanks for reading the Men's Engagement Ring Handbook.

Read a review of the well known "The Engagement Ring Handbook" here!