D colour premiums narrow as buyers accept faint warmth for larger sizes

At larger carat weights, more buyers are accepting a faint trace of warmth in colour grade in exchange for a bigger stone, narrowing the premium D colour commands over G-H.

• Colour differences that are obvious to a grader under controlled lighting are often invisible face-up to the naked eye, especially past 1.5 ct in a well-cut stone.
• Buyers working to a fixed budget increasingly choose to spend the difference on carat weight rather than the top of the colour scale.
• The narrowing is most visible in round and cushion cuts, which hide warmth better than step cuts like emerald and asscher.

If size matters more to you than a top colour grade, G-H colour in a well-cut stone is worth a look before assuming D is necessary. Compare colour grades or ask us to see the difference side by side.