Wow, thank you for all of the helpful responses!

A couple of answers from above:

It is a 1.5 carat round. I have taken many pictures in different lighting conditions trying to capture the yellow color, but the flash illuminates it so the color goes away. Without flash and in the most yellowish conditions (overcast days) doesn't capture the color adequately either.

This was the first time that my mom had seen it in person. To be fair, her asking if it was a "canary diamond" was an exaggeration on her part--that was just her not so subtle way of telling me that it looked yellowish.

I bought it a while ago, and I was happy with it when I received it. The color didn't bother me as much, but the more I wore it in different lighting conditions, the more sensitive I became to when people were looking at it during its pale yellow phase. Like I said, indoors like at work, it looks fantastic!

I mentioned the flashlight because I had read somewhere about Better than Diamonds shipping them out with new Amora?Mira? purchases. I didn't remember when they said they would start doing it, so I wrote "is/was" in my original post. I didn't say that I got a flashlight with mine, just that when I read that they would be shipped that way, I should have made the connection that it was the company's way of saying that the stones need specific lighting conditions to look colorless.

So no, I've had the stone now long enough that, fair and square, I don't expect a refund or replacement. I'm not disparaging the stone or the company, as they seem very good with customer service! I am just relaying my personal experience with the stone that I received, and it sounds like many of you have had great experiences with the colorlessness of your stone.

For any of you that have one of these stones (1.5carat or larger) and wear it daily, have you noticed that it seems less colorless than when you bought it, even with proper cleaning, or is it my imagination? I wish I would have compared it to an H diamond when I bought it, but I know that right now they do not look the same. I am not doubting the original certificate, so that is why I question whether something could be changing with daily wear. It is either that or I am getting more sensitive to the color. Any thoughts?

OneLove - I'm sorry you don't love your stone. It sounds like you are happy with it until you feel other people are judging it.

But one pet peeve of mine, You called it your Amora Gem. No one has an Amora Gem. You have an Amora enhanced moissanite.

Do you have the ability to take a video? I have found that to be the most realistic way to show the "off" colors that people see. (I am quite color sensitive and I know I wouldn't be happy with the Amora until the Gem is available.)

OneLove, that is sad, I don't know what to say,
but I feel for you...

I did not like the Amora OEC I got either,
and I feel like the dislike was almost
visceral.... I tried to give it a chance,
and I wish at the time I had known there
"might" have been a chance I could have
returned it for a trade.... maybe someone
could have picked a whiter one for me...
I don't know.

Thing is, I DO want to like these gems !!

And another thing, I don't know about you, but
Moissy and especially Amora aren't inexpensive !!!!
In thinking about purchasing another Amora
just to "see" if I like it,
well, I almost can't make myself do it !!!
Even if it CAN be returned...
Add a setting, and it can be pretty pricey.
So I understand, and I feel badly for you.

I have an unenhanced Moissy that I got
to compare with my Asha's and tell the truth,
I actually DO like it.
But it's "warm" (I love that expression...)
When I am having a "bad day" (not often, really)
it's waaay too yellow for me, but other days it's a beaut !!!
Since I "expected" its color, it is easier for
me to accept it, if you know what I mean...

Again, I hope you can find a gem you can love.

I have an 8 mm (2 ct) round Amora Moissanite that is graded H in color and it is never yellow. I have H colored diamond earrings and when I put the Amora next to them, the Amora looks whiter.

If you don't like it now you will hate it in the future.

As Les stated, there is zero reason for you to keep that stone. Unless you have oodles amounts of cash coming out of your bottom, send it back and get a replacement stone. Les is giving you the option by the sounds of it, which is a good deal. I am sure the replacement stone will be far superior esp now you have started this thread.

I am sooooo sorry that you dislike your stone. I agree with a few other comments, the QC issues surrounding this stone need to be addressed. Amora is more expensive than a regular moissanite. Any Amora should be whiter than a regular moissanite.

My regular moissanite is white, in ALL lighting, not just face up. Is it as white as an Amora, i can't answer that.

I'm so sorry you are unhappy with your stone. I also say you should give Less a chance to check and see what the issue is.

I do know that when these first came out I had (along with someone else) issues with it looking pale yellow in certain lighting. Less and his team figured out the there is a secondary color in moissanite that certain lighting brings out and they started using a special scope to screen for it from then on.

I gave it another chance and my Amora is incredibly white all the time. Very steely without any yellow.

Perhaps somehow this particular stone was not screened for the secondary color and slipped through? I don't know for sure, but I would definitely let BTD address this. Their customer service is wonderful and they might be able to get to the bottom of this for you!

I'm sorry you aren't completely happy with your stone I had a coated enhanced round brilliant moissy for a year and it never really warmed my heart, and then I got my OEC Amora and I knew what it was like to be totally content. It's worth taking a financial hit to get what you want in that regard in my opinion.

For clarification, we call some of our stones buttery or warm because that is just protocal around here. If we called them pale yellow, it wouldn't be an accurate representation because pale yellow is closer to the K-M, and more accurately even N-R. Anything more colorless than that would be considered just slightly tinged, or buttery, or warm. & those are not bad things for all of us, especially those of us who own or like antique cuts.

My point is that you should be happy with what you have, and if you aren't you should rectify that. But you shouldn't feel misled by the boards based on that fact that we don't all feel like our stones are warm, or based on the fact that some of us do have warm stones and don't call them 'pale yellow'.

Hi again,

Re: flashlight I really wish you would just remove that because you continue to make false statements regarding it, and it's distracting from the real issue of concern that we are trying to help you with.

The flashlight was designed as an option to allow people to see the sparkle factor by providing a higher intensity lighting to view it under. If someone receives the stone and views it under poor lighting, then they may think it is not as sparkly as it actually is - therefore, the idea was to provide higher quality lighting with the stone to let them see it's light handling regardless if they receive the stone on a rainy day or in fluorescent lighting, etc.

It is not, and never was, designed to be a way to make the stone look 'colorless'.

Amora enhanced is *not* colorless - it is near colorless.

Amora Gem and Asha are true colorless, and the flashlight was going to be shipped with both...so why would we ship a flashlight for these if it's purpose was to make a colorless stone look...colorless?

Anyway, we did not move forward with it and currently the only plan for any flashlights may be for Amora GEM...which again is colorless, so the intent is not at all to make it look...colorless, because it already is.

Thus, if you keep saying that we are (or plan to be) shipping flashlights as a way to trick people into thinking the Amora enhanced is colorless (which it is not, it is near colorless) then you are in fact making false statements and stating that we are trying to deceive people, which we are not.

Since I'm sure that is not your intent, I really suggest you simply drop the flashlight issue entirely since you are not correct there, and lets focus on your stone at hand.

Back to the actual issue: And back to the actual item of concern - you asked whether the stone could take on more color over time with daily wear.

The stone itself cannot - it is one of the 4 hardest materials on the planet and it will not change color.

However, it is *possible* that you have built up hard water deposits over time on the stone, and that may impart some tinting to it.

To wit - some time ago we had a customer claim that their colorless Asha had turned yellow. That made no sense, so we had them send the stone back in - it turned out they had built up significant hard water deposits on the underside of the stone and it was tinting it slightly yellow.

A proper cleaning and it was back to colorless again.

Hard water deposits can be very hard to remove - a soak in pure vinegar is a good start as it will react with the calcium and slowly remove.

However, if your stone continues to look 'fantastic' as you noted in certain lighting conditions, but yellow in others (esp. diffuse outdoor lighting) then I don't think that is the issue.

As some other posters have referenced, we had to start screening with a dichroscope in order to ferret out which stones were going to exhibit secondary color in odd lighting scenarios - we started doing that in August 2011.

If you purchased prior to that, then it may not have been caught and may show more yellow than it should (or that we would expect) and if that is the case then we can look at an exchange for you with a post August 2011 stone.

Hope that helps,
Less

I need to see pics...

Me too. It is hard to offer more than "I hope you find something you like" without pictures

OneLove - you could always put it up for sale on the bistro and fund another stone. Asha's are less expensive, you might end up with some cash in your pocket.