E.G.L Platinum

With diamonds, too, there are shades of gray .

Gray is one of the less attractive colors among fancy diamonds. Even when it appears in conjunction with other popular colors, such as blue or green, its effect on the overall price is negative, regardless of its dominance within the stone. This is true whether it is the primary body color or merely a secondary moderator.

For this edition of Gem Color Trends, we decided to focus on the gray color, and to show the influence it has on prices. We used our more than $200 million worth of fancy diamonds in our database to locate all GIA certified diamonds with "gray" or "grayish" mentioned in their color grade. We then used the GemePrice™ pricing system to compare their prices against those of straight-color diamonds - in other words stones having the same body color but without the gray moderator, to determine the price variations.

The results were divided into two categories. The first category we looked at was diamonds with a gray body color, where we analyzed the effect of various other color moderators on the price. In the second category we focused on the gray (or grayish) color as a moderator to see how it affected the price of various straight body colors.

The 'gray body color' results are shown in Figure 1. It is clear that pure gray is considered considerably less valuable than a gray body color enhanced by moderators. Adding a greenish tint to the gray color will increase the value of the diamond by approximately 30 percent. The more desirable bluish tint, however, would fetch double the price and sometimes even higher values.

When analyzing the gray moderators, and visible in Figure 2, the same negative influence is maintained. Diamonds with straight body colors fetch higher prices than those that include gray shades. Adding a gray or grayish tint to green or blue body colors will reduce the price of the stone by 30 percent for "grayish" and up to 50 percent for "gray," when compared to their respective straight color stones with similar parameters.

These numbers support the trade's negative perception about gray colored diamonds. It is not surprising that most sellers prefer that their stones would not be awarded a grayish moderator in their certificate, and some would even consider recutting the gem, if it would help rid it of its unappealing tint. However, if one has a gray body color graded diamond, the best one could hope for is for it to include an extra color, which would help to push its price higher.