A whiter stone lets more light pass through it, making it sparkle and shine. The exception to the rule is the canary diamond, which is beautiful bright yellow and very expensive. D is the clearest and most valuable while grades at the other end are dingy yellow and less expensive. The amount of color you see in a cut diamond depends largely on its size, how it is cut, and whether or not it is mounted. The bigger the stone, the more obvious its color will be, just as a carafe of wine shows more color than a glassful.
Some people are more sensitive to the color of diamonds.
What may appear slightly yellow to you may look clear to another person, so it will take a higher color grade to satisfy you. The average shopper doesn't even notice yellow tints in mounted diamonds having a grade from G to J because the increasing nuances of color are so slight. Bodycolor is the inherent color of the stone and is caused by the different colors of light that are absorbed by the stone. Brilliance is the total amount of light returned to the eye by reflections from within the stone and from its surface. Dispersion , or fire, is a spreading and separating of white light into its component hues, much like a prism.