E Color Diamonds – Guide and Consumer Purchase Tips
Can you tell the E diamond ring apart from the H and K color diamonds?
Is an E color diamond good enough for an engagement ring? Does an E colorless grade make the diamond sparkle more? How much color difference is there between a D and E diamond? Is it worth it to buy a GIA certified E color diamond?
When it comes to buying diamond engagement rings, I often receive questions like these from confused readers. In this write up, we will address these questions and reveal everything you need to know about E color diamonds.
You will also get to see side by side comparisons of different colored engagement rings and find out for yourself how they look like in real life. Let’s get started!
What is an E Color Diamond?
The E color is the 2nd best grade on the GIA color grading scale of D-Z and falls under the “Colorless” category of diamonds.
When diamonds are graded for color in the gemological labs, they are flipped over and graded based on an absence of a color tint. A colorless diamond receives a higher rating while a diamond with more body color will receive a lower rating.
E colored diamonds are very rare in nature and they have very minute traces of color that can only be detected under the right viewing conditions. Due to their cool, icy white appearance, an E color grade is something that is highly desirable by consumers.
How Does an E Color Diamond Engagement Ring Look Like?
Let’s review a breathtaking halo engagement ring with an E color 0.52ct cushion cut diamond from James Allen and see how it actually looks like when worn on a finger. FYI, the model in the video is yours truly and you can probably infer that I’m an Asian from the skin tone.
E Color Diamond Prices: How Expensive Are They?
Similar to their D and F colored counterparts, an E colorless diamond comes with a hefty price tag due to rarity factors. To give you a better idea of price premiums, let’s perform a comparison using real life data over a range of diamond qualities.
Comparison table showing different colored diamonds with similar carat sizes, clarity and cut quality.
It should come as no surprise that an E color diamond costs significantly more than other colors on the GIA grading scale. Here, I want to highlight that the effects of higher color on a diamond’s price is more pronounced in larger carat sizes.
This is because prices skyrocket exponentially due to the disproportionate effects of carat weight and rarity factors. i.e.a two carat E round diamond can cost 3 times more than a similar two carat K round diamond!
What is the Difference Between a D and E Colored Diamond?
Frankly speaking, the differences are extremely difficult to see and even a professional gemologist would find it very hard to tell them apart outside of lab grading conditions.
Watch the following video to see the 2 engagement rings being compared against each other in real life.
For the layman and general public, I can assure you that it is almost impossible to see color differences when a D and E diamond are mounted face up in ring settings.
I do get that people like having the “best of the best quality” when it comes to diamond rings. If buying a high color diamond psychologically impacts your enjoyment of owning the jewelry, by all means get a D over an E diamond.
On the other hand, if you aren’t a perfectionist who requires a D rating for your diamond, going with an E color grade diamond can save you some money. If you are looking for even more savings, you may even want to consider a color grade lower than E.
E Color vs H Color vs K Color Diamond Comparison
For people who are considering a wider range of diamonds due to budget constraints or simply want to know how an E color diamond engagement ring looks like against other colors, the next video will definitely be something you want to view in full.
Using similar sized diamonds, we compare an E vs H vs K diamond ring in a side by side manner under various lighting conditions. This comparison replicates the most common real life environments you will find yourself in.
Did you manage to see color differences between stones from the colorless (E), near colorless (H) and faint yellow (K) diamond rings? Or did the diamonds all look white to you?
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Overview – Let’s Wrap Things Up!
I hope you have a much better idea of what an E colored diamond is and how it looks like in real life. E color diamonds face up completely white and they are suitable for people with an extremely sensitive eye.
Here are a couple more handshots of my wife wearing the halo engagement ring on her hands. As you can see, the E diamond faces up with a icy cool tint and there’s no hint of color even when the ring is examined from the side profile.
Being in the colorless category, an E diamond does come with a price premium. And if your budget allows for it, by all means go for an E color grade. On the other hand, if you are on a tighter budget, you may want to consider diamonds from the near colorless range (G-J) as alternatives.
With that, I hope this article has made you a more informed individual and puts you on the right track to finding your perfect diamond ring. Good luck with your search!
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8 Comments
I’m shopping for a 3 carat diamond ring for my wife’s anniversary present and to celebrate the upcoming birth of my daughter. This is one of the biggest purchase I will ever make in my lifetime and I want it to be an investment that appreciates in value as well.
Would an E diamond or D diamond be better for an investment if there was ever a need to sell it later?
I understand that we want things we buy to appreciate in value over time like a property or a house. The truth of the matter is, diamonds are bad investments because the retail markup and the process of selling the ring itself will take a significant chunk out of the value of the ring.
My advice is to buy a diamond ring for wearing and enjoyment. Buy the ring to mark the birth of your daughter and to celebrate the occasion but never do so with the intent of making an investment. If you want to buy something that has better asset value, head to the stock market instead.
I’ve written an article previously on buying three ct diamond rings here: https://beyond4cs.com/engagement-ring/3-carat/
That should provide you with more insights on what to look out for.
I am worried that the e grade diamond would look inferior when matched with g grade diamonds in a pave setting. The settings sold be the jeweler only comes in g-h melees and there’s no option for matching colors. any advice or help on what to do in my case?
I see no issues with matching an E grade diamond with smaller stones of G-H colors. Ultimately, its the cut quality and overall workmanship of the setting that really counts on impacting appearances. This article on pave ring settings contains more information worth reading.
If you watched the video of the halo engagement ring I used for the review, the E color cushion cut diamond is matched with F-G melees and the metal of the setting is 14k white gold. There is no hint of color in the melees and I will confidently say so in your case as well. The caveat here is that the craftsmanship of the ring is assumed to be as good as JamesAllen’s.
Do skin tones affect the choice of diamond color grade to buy? The E grade diamond looks really good on your wife’s hand. My fiancee has fairly dark skin and I am worried about an E being too white.
Reading your comment actually brought a chuckle to my face (in a nice way). Most people are often too worried about diamonds looking too yellow instead of looking too white. I think the choice of color and contrast between the ring metal is a bigger factor instead of the diamond’s color. For darker skin tones, I think white appearances look completely fine as well. It’s really up to personal preferences.
I bought a diamond that looks great on, but when I got home I looked at it with a loop. It was filled with carbon. It looked like pepper flakes. Now that is in my head and I want to take it back and get a better diamond pendant. What are your thoughts?
I also found your site most informative. Thank you for all your research.
Was the diamond certified by a reliable lab like GIA or AGS? If it wasn’t, you probably got sold a rubbish tier diamond and significantly overpay. And in this case, why would you still want to buy or have anything to do with this vendor again?