Looking at how diamonds are priced - the real deal about clarity!
Monday, December 15th, 2008 | Places
This time I’m going to have a look at one of the “4 C’s” of how diamonds are graded. In case you don’t know, diamonds are graded in 4 main categories - cut, color, carat and clarity. Today I want to take a close look at the last one - clarity.
The clarity grading scale goes from IF (the best) down to I3 (the worst). As a whole, there are ten grades that a diamond can be given.
Clarity refers to how many “inclusions” that are present in the diamond. In a nut-shell, inclusions are small blemishes or imperfections. They form naturally when the rock is forming in the earth and inclusions are found in almost all diamonds.
When grading the diamond, a gemologist inspects the diamond under magnification in order to look at the inclusions that are in the stone. The grading is then decided on the number of inclusions, and also how noticeable or big they are.
Just to illustrate, a diamond that is given an IF grading has no inclusions at all. This is incredibly rare, and understandably, this type of diamond will have a huge price premium attached to it.
A stone with a grading of VS2 will have “very slight” inclusions - these are only noticeable when viewed under a microscope and aren’t noticeable with just the human eye alone. These diamonds sell for significantly less that an IF graded diamond.
It’s important to understand the different ways diamonds are graded. Grab a diamond buying guide - this will make a huge difference in the end and will make it possible to save a lot of money on your purchase. It can be the difference between finding an affordable engagement ring instead of overpaying and putting a huge smile on your jewelers face.