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Diamond Clarity: Shoppers Buying Guide
By Denny Reinke
Diamond shoppers typically want a diamond that is big, bright and has lots of sparkle. Yet when they go to the jewelry store, the attention seems to be on carat weight, color and clarity. What is diamond clarity and how does it influence the beauty of the diamond?
All diamonds have inclusions in them because nature forms diamonds in the high temperature, high-pressure regions deep below the earth’s surface. Diamonds are crystals of carbon and the crystals formed in this harsh environment are never perfect. Inclusions are the tiny identifying characteristics inside a diamond. Some of the more common types of inclusions are feathers, crystals, pinpoints, clouds, needles, and twinning wisps. Diamonds also have characteristics on the surface, called blemishes. Clarity affects a diamond purchase when inclusions and blemishes are visible to the eye, when they adversely influence the path of light through the diamond, or when they negatively affect the durability of the diamond.
The diamond industry has established clarity grades to identify various levels of clarity in terms of visibility. The visibility of a particular inclusion or blemish is dependent on its location within the diamond, its physical size and the affect it has when viewed under different lighting conditions. The clarity grades rate diamonds on the visibility of inclusions and blemishes under 10-power magnification.
Flawless and Internally Flawless (IF) are the highest clarity grades and indicate no inclusions are visible under 10-power magnification, with the Internally Flawless allowing only very minor blemishes. Even Internally Flawless diamonds have visible inclusions when viewed under higher magnification.
VVS1 and VVS2 grades indicate very, very small inclusions, which might take 30 minutes to find with a microscope.
VS1 and VS2 grades have very small inclusions that are visible under the microscope but seldom every visible to the unaided eye.
SI1 and SI2 grades have small inclusions under the microscope and are sometimes visible with the aided eye.
I1, I2 and I3 grades have inclusions that are obvious with the unaided eye.
It is important to have the clarity grade designated by one of the top diamond grading laboratories such as the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) or AGS (American Gem Society). Clarity grades on other documentation can be exaggerated and inaccurate relative to industry standards.
What do these clarity grades mean for the diamond shopper? There are many clarity grades and often a big price difference between Flawless clarity and clean to the eye clarity. Most diamond shoppers want a diamond that has no visible inclusions. For brilliant shapes like rounds, ovals, princess, and radiant cuts, that usually means at
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