Diamond Clarity
Evaluating a Diamonds Clarity
Clarity is an important feature of a diamond, and it is noteworthy to know how to grade the clarity of a diamond prior to buying one. It is really quite simple to learn how to grade the clarity of diamonds.
There are fundamentally two things that you must understand in the clarity of diamonds. Diamonds with visual inclusions and flaws, and those that are "eye clean" implying that there are no inclusions or flaws that can be seen with the naked eye. And then the clarity of a diamond is further analyzed into subclasses. Some people erroneously believe that the diamonds clarity pertains to how clear it is. This is not so. Clarity really pertains to the internal and external defects of the diamond. The best diamonds, as might be expected, get a grade of FL or IF, Flawless or Internally Flawless, this means that it is perfect. A grade of I-1, I-2 or I-3 signifies that the diamond is imperfect, with a grade of I-3 being the most defective. Other grades are VVS1 and VVS2, which means that the diamond is very, very slightly defective. VS1 and VS2, meaning the diamond is very slightly imperfect; SI-1 and SI-2, which means that the diamond is slightly imperfect.
We've all heard that a diamonds cut, carats and clarity are important considerations when buying diamonds, but most of us have no idea what that really means. Therefore, we are giving you a little explanation of each so that you can be armed with a bit of information the next time you buy a diamond.