What Diamond Clarity Should I Choose

Clarity refers to the diamond’s purity. All natural diamonds show traces of their growth history, which are minor internal characteristics. The clarity grading scale reflects the size, number, contrast, and location of these inclusions when examined with a 10x loupe. Below we will show you seven diamonds under a loupe to help you understand clarity. Let’s begin with the rarest diamond clarity grade.

IF (Internally Flawless) / LC (Loupe Clean)

This means that the diamond is free from anything impeding the vision of the person grading the stone, hence the term, flawless.

diamond  clarity loupe clean

VVS1 (Very, Very Slightly Included)

Do you see anything in this diamond? Probably not, but expert graders of diamonds see the smallest spot under the microscope which means that this diamond is almost flawless.

diamond clarity VVS1

VVS2

The small spot in the center of the diamond is what makes the grade of this diamond just one small step from the previous, making this diamond quite nearly flawless, but not quite.

diamond clarity VVS2

VS1 (Very Slightly Included)

The small spot in the center of the diamond may accompany other inclusions invisible to the naked eye; yet, they give the expert eye a reason for the grade given.

diamond clarity VS1

VS2

Under the 10x magnification, you can probably start to see the presence of more spots within the diamond. The presences of these inclusions are mostly away from the center of the diamond and this is what justifies the VS2 grade.

diamond clarity VS2

SI1 (Slightly Included)

More of the spots are present towards the center of this diamond and although not obvious, they are noticeably and the grader sees them easily with magnification.

diamond clarity SI1

SI2

The spots in this diamond occur more frequently than the past diamonds that you’ve been looking at. The presence of these frequent spots gives a sign to the grader that this diamond is an SI2 grade.

diamond clarity SI2

How Does the Clarity Affect the Price of a Diamond?

The answer to this question is easily explained, rarity. The higher the clarity of a diamond, the more rare the diamond is, and in turn, the more rare, the higher the price.

Does Better Clarity Mean Sacrificing Colour or Weight?

All 4 C’s of diamonds are important factors and it’s important to decide what is most important to you. Often, when buying a diamond, there is a budget and each of the 4 C’s must be studied in order to adjust the diamond to the budget in order to decide if one or more of the C’s is more important than the others.

What Are Inclusions in Diamonds?

Inclusions or spots in diamonds are like birthmarks; they show what a diamond has been through when it was growing. Just as you have scars or freckles, diamonds often show you a little bit of their past and where they came from.

Advice From Beldiamond

Most diamonds aren’t perfect, but they can look like it when they aren’t under a microscope. We always advise our clients to buy diamonds with a clarity between VVS2 and SI2. Your diamond doesn’t necessarily has to be flawless, but it’s important that we can’t see the inclusion with the naked eye.

Make sure you invest in a diamond that will make you fall in love all over again.

We suggest somewhere in the middle when you begin your search.