March 29, 2024

Exploring Diamond Clarity: A Comprehensive Guide for Buyers

As one of the most precious materials on earth, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Diamonds are judged and categorized in many ways. And when it comes to defining the value of a given diamond, you’ll always find that clarity is one of the most determining qualities.

While clarity might seem like a complex topic at first, it comes down to understanding what each term and each category means in the world of diamonds. So today it’s time to take a look at everything any buyer needs to know about clarity with this Rare Carat diamonds guide.

What is Diamond Clarity?

First and foremost, it’s important to define what clarity even is and why it matters so much when you are buying a new stone. A diamond’s clarity is in short, a way to gauge the number of impurities that a given piece has, and it lets you know what the overall presentation of it is.

So, clarity lets you know how “spotless” or “clean” a given diamond is, and logically the higher the rating the better your stone will look. However, that doesn’t mean that buying the highest clarity diamond is always the best option, after all, it is common for these imperfections to not be noticeable to the naked eye. And in most cases even finding a stone with a perfect clarity rating might be a challenge.

So how can someone know what’s the right clarity level for a stone? That’s precisely what the different categories of clarity aim to illustrate.

Understanding Each Category

To make sure that both buyers and sellers have a clear idea of the quality of the stones they are dealing with, the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) came up with the Clarity Scale as a universal scale for future reference and comparison. The scale is widely adopted all over the world, and used in this very site for your facility, so giving it a look over will be a huge help when planning your next purchase.

In the current scale, there are 6 categories in which diamonds are ranked for clarity, with a total of 11 grades across these categories. So it’s time to take a look at each one so you can fully understand what they represent for a given stone.

Flawless (FL)

In Flawless diamonds, there are no visible inclusions or blemishes even up to 10x magnification. Of course, as diamonds are under extreme heat and pressure Flawless stones are incredibly rare and as such appropriately expensive.

Internally Flawless (IF)

An Internally Flawless stone is completely free of any internal inclusions, and any potential blemishes it might have been incredibly hard to notice. An Internally Flawless diamond is always eye clean, and even a trained grader with magnification tools will have a hard time noticing any potential surface imperfections.

Very Very Slightly Included (VVS1 & VVS2)

In this category we start seeing inclusions inside the stone, however, at this point, they are still microscopic in nature. Once again, diamonds in this category are eye-clean and even graders will have to make a considerable effort to notice the inclusions.

Very Slightly Included (VS1 & VS2)

Very Slightly Included diamonds will have minor inclusions that a skilled grader will notice with relative ease under magnification. Nonetheless, they still are eye-clean and general audiences will not be able to notice these issues.

Slightly Included Diamonds (SI1 & SI2)

In this category inclusions and blemishes might become apparent to the naked eye, but even then they tend to require conscious effort to see. Any skilled grader will easily notice the inclusions with the right tools, but despite this, some stones in this category still manage to be eye clean, which makes them a very appealing proposition.

Included Diamonds (I1, I2, & I3)

At this range, inclusions are easily noticeable even without magnification, and they might directly affect transparency, brilliance, and even durability. As part of its efforts to connect its clients with the best possible stones and retailers, Rare Carat does not list any Included Diamonds.

Shopping by Clarity

Now that every important aspect of this Rare Carat diamond guide has been covered, it’s time to get to the practical aspect: Buying diamonds based on clarity.

Of course, at the end of the day which grade is right for you is a very personal matter, and your intent for the stone as well as your budget will play a role in the choice. But the fact is that basically any stone above VS2 is going to be eye clean, and that means that for most untrained eyes that’s the important cut-off point. After all, most people do not buy a diamond with the express intent to inspect it under magnifying tools regularly.

Likewise, going downward in grades can indeed at times be a fruitful endeavor, and you can find some remarkable diamonds even at SI1 grade. That said the clarity scale exists for a reason, and while it is possible to find great deals, it’s not reasonable to expect all SI1 diamonds to look spotless, after all, they are graded under that category for a reason.

So, with all of the above in mind, where should one go if they already know what clarity grade you want for your diamond? Right here in fact. With an average rating of 4.9/5 reviews on both Google Business Profile and Trustpilot, Rare Carat is the premier destination for anybody looking for the best deals exclusively from trusted retailers. And the website is designed to let you filter each diamond based on clarity, so you will have control of every single detail in the buying process.

So for anybody looking for a new diamond, just take into account everything said in this Rare Carat diamonds guide and begin browsing today.

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