Buying a diamond... What's more important, color or clarity?

So you're ready to buy a diamond and you're wondering what is more important, color or clarity? Oh, you're going to love this answer,
It depends.. on what you may ask? It depends upon what your priorities are. You will need to decide, but when I'm asked which is more important, I usually advise to use your eyes. If you are looking at diamonds that are SI2 or better in clarity, most likely you will not be able to see the difference in clarity from a flawless diamond or a diamond that is Slightly Included, without using magnification.

On the other hand, Color is another story. If we are considering diamonds that are white in color, then the question is, can you SEE the difference? It is generally considered that most people will not begin to see a hint of yellow, and I mean just a hint, until you go down the scale to about I or J in color.

The rarest white color is D, and I often find that people equate color with brilliance. Color really has nothing to do with brilliance, but the purity of the D color ofter gives the feeling of being absolutely clear. What this means is that even if your eye cannot see the differences in the colors, your mind does recognize these differences.

So what do I recommend? Go with what you can see. You may get down the scale a little bit in clarity without visually recognizing these differences, but the colors, your mind recognizes pretty quickly.