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Home The BlogGreat Tips - Five Factors That Determine Clarity

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Great Tips - Five Factors That Determine Clarity

Here are the five factors that determine the amount of clarity a diamond has. There are what a diamond grader will take into consideration when examining and giving a diamond its clarity grade.

  • Size
  • Number
  • Position
  • Nature
  • Color

 

Here's What GIA Say..

Flawless — Flawless diamonds have no inclusions or blemishes when viewed under 10X magnification by a skilled grader. A diamond can have naturals confined to the width of the girdle, extra facets on the pavilion that are not visible face-up, laser inscriptions confined to the girdle and internal graining that is not white, colored or reflective. Internally Flawless (IF) — An IF diamond has no inclusions, only blemishes when viewed under 10X magnification. Very Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2) — VVS diamonds contain minute inclusions that are difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10X magnification. The inclusion in a VVS1 diamond are extremely difficult to see face-up, or may be visible only through the pavilion. Inclusions in a VVS2 diamond are very difficult to see. Typically VVS diamonds have a pinpoint or two; however, characteristics like a bearded girdle or tiny chips might also be present in VVS diamonds depending on their visibility. Very Slightly Included (VS1 and VS2) — Diamonds of VS clarity contain minor inclusions that range from difficult (VS1) to somewhat easy (VS2) to see under 10X magnification. Typical inclusions in VS diamonds include small crystals, feathers and distinct groups of pinpoints. Slightly Included (SI1 and SI2) — Diamonds of SI clarity contain noticeable inclusions that are easy (SI1) or very easy (SI2) to see under 10X magnification. Typical inclusions, such as crystals, clusters of pinpoints and feathers, are centrally located. Included (I1, I2, and I3) — Diamonds in the 'I' clarity range contain inclusions that are obvious under 10X magnification. These inclusions can often times be seen face-up without magnification, sometimes affect the stone's durability and can be so numerous or large that they affect transparency and brilliance. The clarity is typically assigned by a first impression or at first glance. The grader notes whether the inclusions are easy, difficult or very difficult to see when they first look at the stone. The clarity grade of most diamonds is determined in less than 2 minutes. The exception to this is in Internally Flawless and Flawless diamonds, which take considerable examination to assign such a high and valuable grade. It of course takes longer to plot included diamonds as well.  

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