Clarity
This 'C' grades how much inclusions, imperfections, black dots, white dots, blemishes, feathers..... all fancy words which boil down to stuff in or on the surface of a diamond. There is a wide range of grades for Clarity:
- FL Flawless. Nothing. Zero. Nada. This diamond has nothing bad inside. Completely clean and uncontaminated. Extremely rare and extremely expensive.
- IF Internally Flawless. Keyword: Internal. The surface of this diamond is the only place where any miniscule imperfections live. These imperfections are much better than the ones inside because with further polishing, they can be eliminated or reduced. Still extremely rare and extremely expensive.
- VVS1/VVS2 Very, very slightly included. Just as the name suggests, these are very, very slightly included. "Included" = has "inclusions". Inclusions is a common term for any type of imperfections in the diamond. Next time you visit a store, ask "Where are the inclusions in this diamond?" to sound professional =P. Back on topic, these diamonds are more common than the above two, but are still very expensive.
- VS1/VS2 Very slightly included. These diamonds have inclusions that be can viewed under 10x magnification. The difference between this category and the above category is generally the location, size, and type of inclusion. White dots vs black dots (black dots are worse...), feathers, or inclusions that are easily identified will make the stone fall under this category.
- SI1/SI2 Slightly included. Diamonds in this category have inclusions that may be visible to the naked eye. This depends on how bad the inclusion is, the location of the inclusion and most importantly, how well trained or experienced the person viewing the diamond is. Most experienced or trained appraisers, gemologists and buyers can usually spot the inclusions without magnification after carefully examining the diamond. Diamonds in this category are, in my opinion, the best bargain because this is sort of the tipping point from bad diamonds to better diamonds. SI's cover the broad range of diamonds in between the good and the bad. If you plan on buying a diamond with this clarity grade, try to make sure it is a "eye clean diamond". What "eye clean" means is that after a diamond is set (remember from my previous posts, this means the diamond is already on the band/ring), vieiwng the diamond faced-up, it is hard to see the inclusions with the naked eye. However, viewing it from the side or bottom/upside-down, you may see the imperfections easily.
- I1/I2/I3 Included. These diamonds have inclusions and are probably clearly visible with the naked eye from several feet. Basically, if you're not low on cash, try to stay away from this grade.
Wow, another long, yet informative post! I hope you found this information useful =) Again, please remember these represent my personal opinion. At the end of the day, it's what you feel most comfortable with. I'm just trying to educate you, so you are armed with all the knowledge and experience that I've been through.
Here are a couple last pointers:
- Lower end stores tend to carry SI's and I's
- Tiffany's only carry VS or higher BUT has recently started having a limited selection of SI's as well. They said it'll cater to a broader range of customers since their diamonds are crazy expensive.
- VVS are usually not worth the money as downgrading to VS will cost less and probably, the inclusions are still not visible
- Having said that, FL and IF are obviously not worth the money either. But how cool is it to say "I have a FL/IF diamond ring" =P
- Some VS2s are worse than SI1s. There is a fine line between these grades and keep in mind, every diamond in this world is graded by a human being, so there'll always be discrepancies.
- Following the above point, the appraiser or appraisal body of the certificate is extremely important to these grades. A SI1 from one appraiser might be a SI2 from another. I'll blog about this in subsequent posts.
- I am looking to buy a VS1 or VS2. I feel this is the best range for me =)
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