Diamond Clarity

A diamond's clarity refers to its flawlessness, or the inclusions and blemishes it contains.
These inclusions or flaws are found in almost all diamonds. In the better grade diamonds, the flaws are invisible to the naked eye.

These flaws affect the value of the diamond in that some flaws make the diamond cloudy or less brilliant, while others may cause the diamond to be more brittle.

Inclusions could be cracks in the diamond. They could be due to crystals or minerals within the diamond. Or grains whcih are caused by irregular crystallization during the formation of the diamond.

Blemishes are on the surface of the diamond. They could be scratches, nicks or even pits on the diamond's surface. For this reason, investment diamonds are kept in the safe to prevent them from getting damaged.

Flawless Diamonds

The best diamonds, the rarest diamonds of all are flawless (Fl). Meaning, even under 10X magnification, no flaws can be detected internally or externally.

Internally Flawless Diamond

Internally Flawless diamonds (Clarity = IF) do not have any inclusions but they may have surface flaws visible under 10X magnification. These too make excellent investment diamonds.

Very Very Slightly Included

Under the Very Very Slightly Included (VVSI) category, the tiny inclusions can barely be seen by a diamond grader, even under magnification. There are to grades within this. VVS1 and VVS2. VVS1 being of a higher grade and, all things the same, more expensive than VVS2.

Flawless, IF and VVSI diamonds are the best in terms of quality and investment diamonds should be of these grades.

Very Slightly Included

VS1 and VS2 diamonds are still clear in that the inclusions cannot be seen by the naked eye but the trained eye can spot the inclusions with under 10X magnification.

Slightly Included

The inclusions for SI1 and SI2 can easily be spotted with a 10X microscope. Fine jewelry would typically use VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2,SI1 and SI2 diamonds.

Included

Included diamonds I1, I2 and I3 have visible flaws that can be seen by the naked eye. They are the cheapest. I1 may still be acceptable for jewelry but if you can, avoid I2 and I3 diamonds as the flaws are too obvious.

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