---
title: "Fancy color grade: meaning in gemology"
description: "A fancy color grade names a colored diamond by its hue plus one grade word, such as Fancy Intense Yellow. The word sums up the tone and saturation of the color."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/fancy-color-grade
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · Color and fluorescence

# Fancy color grade

Also called Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Deep, Fancy Dark, intensity grade

A fancy color grade names a colored diamond by its hue plus one grade word, such as Fancy Intense Yellow. The word sums up the tone and saturation of the color.

## In more detail

GIA's colored diamond grades start with Faint, Very Light and Light. The fancy grades follow: Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Dark and Fancy Deep. GIA grades red and purplish red diamonds only as Fancy, because their tone and saturation fall in a narrow range. Our simulator uses five of the words: Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid and Fancy Deep.

## On a grading report

Replaces the D-to-Z letter on a GIA Colored Diamond Grading Report.

## Related terms

- [Fancy color diamond](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/fancy-color-diamond): A fancy color diamond is a colored diamond with enough color for a fancy grade. To GIA, any diamond outside the D-to-Z scale is a colored diamond.
- [Hue, tone and saturation](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/hue-tone-saturation): Hue, tone and saturation are the three parts of a color. Hue is the color itself, tone is how light or dark it is, and saturation is how strong it is.
- [Color grade](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/color-grade): The color grade is a letter from D to Z for the yellow or brown tint of a near-colorless diamond. D is colorless and Z is light yellow or brown.

## Learn more

- [Fancy color diamonds and fluorescence: beyond the Z grade](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/four-cs/fancy-color-diamonds-and-fluorescence)

[All 328 terms](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary)