Brilliance and fire can be a bit confusing to understand due to the similarities in viewing both. To see brilliance, however, you need to look at a diamond under white light to observe its levels of brightness and contrast. To put it very simply, fire refers to colored flashes, and brilliance refers to white flashes that are contrasted by the darker tones within a diamond. What are tones? Think of 3 colors: white, black, and grey. When you’re looking at a diamond’s brilliance, you may see tones of grey, for example. This is important! The intensity of tones within a diamond need to be balanced and well distributed, as this will help highlight a diamond’s brilliance more. If you only see grey or black tones, the stone is too dark. If you only see white, the stone will be unappealing and dull. Pattern scintillation is important to note as well, as brilliance needs to be judged when looking at a diamond from different angles, not just from the top. If you notice high brilliance whilst observing a diamond in various directions, it indicates good pattern scintillation.