Diamond Clarity diamond color and clarity diamond clarity scale
Most of the women out there love adorning diamonds while so many men would want to gift their loving ones a piece of diamond jewelry. Diamonds have been a great jewelry option for many. But have you ever thought about the clarity of those diamonds. Do you know that they are completely pure and are worth the money that you are spending on them?
Well, if your answer is no, then this guide is for you. And also those who think they know about the diamond clarity, make sure to read the guide until the end to know how much of an idea you have regarding diamonds.
What is diamond clarity?
Now, this is the first and most important question that you need an answer for. Diamond clarity is nothing but a qualitative metric. It helps in grading the visual appearance of a diamond.
Diamonds are extracted from earth and in the extraction and cleaning process, they may get some inclusions and blemishes. These aren’t something that can be observed by naked eye always. There are times when one may slip through these.
The lesser blemishes and inclusions a diamond has, the better its clarity grade is. In this clarity of diamond quality guide, we are going to know indepth about it.
When it comes to diamonds, there are 4C’s that customers always look out for. In those four C’s, the most important ones are diamond color and clarity. Those are the first things that people will see with their naked eyes. Do you know that the diamonds are extracted from a depth of 80-120 miles or even more.
Yes, they have to be extracted from there and are exposed to a temperature of 2,200 degree Faranheit. When this happens, the diamonds go through a lot of changes and are damaged too. Unless it is some rare kind of diamond, you are not going to see a perfect diamond extracted from the ground. The rare ones are going to be costly too.
In order to provide shoppers proper understanding of these diamonds, there are different types of diamond clarity grades. These are mentioned along with the CVD diamonds manufacturer and customer can choose whether they want to purchase or not.
The diamond grading starts from I (included) to FL (flawless). There are subgrades present under each clarity grade for more detailed understanding.
How are these clarity grades divided?
The first thing experts does when trying to understand the clarity of diamond is checking it with its face up under a microscope. They will use 10x zoom to understand the diamond. Remember that this zoom isn’t enough to know about the blemishes or other issues.
The experts have five pre-determined factors that they consider to determine the quality of any diamond.
- Size: The size of inclusions is the first thing that expert sees. The inclusions are bigger, they will have more impact on the diamond whereas the smaller ones can be managed.
- Number: There is no necessary rule of having only one inclusion in a diamond. There can be so many inclusions on one diamond and this will have an impact on the entire look of diamond. So, be it small or big, if the number of inclusions present on a diamond or more, then it automatically means that the clarity of diamond is low.
- Nature: Nature of inclusion plays a rather important role in determining clarity grade. There are some inclusions that penetrate into the depth of a diamond then there are some that are present on the surface. The inclusions that are present on the surface alone are called blemishes.
- Location: There are some inclusions that are present at the center table of a lab grown diamonds and they are more likely to be visible. Then there are some inclusions that are present close to gridle and aren’t properly visible for people. This way, the location where an inclusion is present will become a prime factor in determining the clarity grade.
- Relief: This just means that how visible the inclusions are compared to diamond. This means how much of contrast is present between the diamond and inclusion. The higher this relief is, the more impact it will have on diamond clarity scale.
So, these are the important factors that will eventually determine diamond clarity.
The grading scale of diamonds go like this
- FL (Flaw less)
- IF (Internally flawless)
- VVS 1 and VVS 2 (Very very slightly included)
- VS1 and VS2 (very slightly included)
- Slight included (SI1 and SI2)
- Included (I1, I2 and I3)
Conclusion
The diamond clarity and color shouldn’t be the only deciding factors when you are purchasing a diamond. Think about the cut and carat too. It is always important to find a diamond that is good in all aspects. So, make sure to focus on all of these aspects the next time when you are in a diamond store.
