Buying a Diamond - What Does the Term Clarity of a Diamond Mean?

By Tony Kitson


The clarity of a diamond is an important aspect of any stone and influences its value. As well as understanding what it means on the information about the stone provided by the jeweler it is also useful to have an understanding of how it has been reached, and what the term clarity actually means.
Many people mistakenly think that diamond clarity refers to how clear it is. This isn't so. Clarity actually refers to the internal and external imperfections of the diamond. It is actually quite easy to understand how a diamond is graded for clarity, and therefore how you can assess if the clarity rating on the diamond you are buying is accurate.
Basically there are two basic things that are considered when grading a diamond for clarity, 1, Stones that have visual inclusions or blemishes or 2, those that are eye clean meaning they have no inclusions or blemishes visible to the naked eye. From these two basic inspections they are further broken down into the following clarity standards.
FL of IF , This is the top grade meaning flawless or internally flawless
I-1 I-2 or I-3, These grades mean the Diamond is imperfect with 1 being the best or least imperfect and 3 being the worst.
Other clarity grades you may see when buying a diamond are, VVSI1 or VVSI2, which means Very very slightly imperfect with the number indicating the degree of the imperfection again 1 being the best or least imperfect. Similarly you may see SI-1 or SI-2 standing for slightly imperfect.
Spending some time to become familiar with the way diamonds are graded for clarity will help you to fully understand what you are buying, and may prevent you from being sold an inferior diamond for a superior price.
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Tony Kitson is a webmaster and marketer with interests and sites on many subjects.
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