JThomson Custom Jewelers

Clarity

Almost all diamonds have imperfections (jewelers call them inclusions). Clarity measures how many, or how few, of these inclusions occur within a diamond. The scale ranges from FL (flawless) to I3 (having many imperfections that are easily visible to the naked eye).

The illustration below shows the variation in clarity among stones of different quality levels. The charts in this figure are typical of the illustrations shown on diamond certificates.

• VVS1 & VVS2-Very very slightly included
• VS1 & VS2-Very slightly included
• SI1, SI2 & SI3 - Slightly included inclusions may be visible to the unaided eye.
• I1, I2 & I3-Included. Inclusions visible to the unaided eye. I2 & I3 generally fragile (as well as ugly!)

Just as there are tradeoffs between the cost of a stone and the color grade, there are tradeoffs between cost and clarity. When you make your purchase, you must decide what level of clarity will match your budget. For fine jewelry, you will want to avoid inclusions that are visible to the naked eye. If you are on a tighter budget, if you care more about size than quality, or if you feel relatively comfortable with imperfections in your stone, then you will want to choose a lower clarity grade.