While natural diamonds are not formed sterile environments they can inherently contain impurities that can become visible under magnification. Clarity is described as the amount of and placement of inclusions (internal characteristics) within or blemishes (external characteristics) on the surface of a diamond, as viewed under 10x magnification.
Similarly to the color of a diamond, less is more when referring to the number of imperfections that a diamond contains, where higher values result from an absence of inclusions and blemishes.
Clarity grades are divided into 11 separate categories ranging from;
Flawless (FL), where no blemishes or inclusions are visible to a trained eye under 10x magnification, to Internally Flawless (IF), to Very Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2), to Very Slightly Included (VS1 and VS2), to Slightly Included (SI1 and SI2), and finally to Included (I1, I2, I3), where inclusions are obvious to the trained eye under 10x magnification and occasionally to the naked eye.
Clarity
THE VALUE OF A DIAMOND
The most common factors that play into the value of a diamond are the "4 C's". These "C's" respectively stand for Carat, Color, Clarity and Cut.
While these variables do certainly play a large role in the value, current market trends and supply and demand factors can also have short term effects on the value of particular diamonds or the pieces of jewelry comprised of diamonds, precious metals and potentially other precious gemstones.
Our staff of graduate gemologist and market experts understand the slight variables that can mean large differences in value and look to each diamond or piece of jewelry for its maximum value, while informing the client of the unique characterisitvs of each jewelry item of their and how it effects the value.
DIAMOND VALUE
Find out more about the variables that effect the value of your diamonds.