Looking at the grading of diamonds – let’s talk about clarity!

This time I’m going to take a look at one of the “4 C’s” of diamonds.  In case you don’t know, diamonds are graded in 4 main categories – cut, color, carat and clarity.  Today I want to have a close look at one of the biggies – clarity.

The clarity grading scale ranges from IF (the best) down to I3 (the worst).  As a whole, there are 10 different categories that a diamond can fall into.

Clarity looks at 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 they can be found in almost all diamonds.

When grading the diamond, a gemologist looks at the diamond under magnification in order to look at the inclusions that are in the stone.  The grading is then submitted based on how many inclusions, and also how apparent or big they are.

Just to illustrate, a diamond that has an IF grading has no inclusions whatsoever.  This is incredibly rare, and as you can imagine, 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 will only be noticeable under a microscope and aren’t noticeable with your naked eye.  These diamonds are priced for a lot less that an IF graded diamond.

Make sure to familiarize yourself with the different ways diamonds are graded.  Pick up a diamond ring buying guide - you will be pleased you did in the end as you can 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.