Beauchamp Jewelers – Albuquerque, NM 87110

Posts Tagged ‘diamond irradiation’

Diamond Clarity

by raw

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

As a continuation of last month’s discussion of diamonds I will cover diamond clarity, 1 of the 4 C’s.

Clarity refers to the purity of the diamond. Approximately 15 % of the diamonds mined in the world are gem quality. The other 85 % is used for industrial purpose. Most diamonds have some sort of inclusions or characteristics even after they are faceted. It is extremely rare to find a flawless diamond. Diamonds are graded using several different scales. At Beauchamp Jewelers, we use the GIA scale which is the oldest and most accepted. (See scale and definitions below.)

Clarity Scale
GIA			FL		IF		VVS₁			VVS₂			VS₁			VS₂			SI₁			SI₂			I₁				I₂				I₃
AGS			0				1			2			3			4			5			6			7			8			9			10

FL………..(Flawless) No inclusions or blemishes under 10 X magnification
IF…………(Internally Flaw) No inclusions under 10X magnification; insignificant blemishes on surface only

VVS1……..(Very Very slightly Included) Minute inclusions that are extremely difficult to see under 10X
VVS2…….. (Very Very slightly Included) Minute inclusions that are very difficult to see under 10X

VS1……….(Very slightly Included) Minor inclusions that are difficult to see under 10X
VS2……….(Very slightly Included) Minor inclusions that are somewhat easy to see under 10X

SI1……….(slightly Included) Noticeable inclusions that are easy to see under 10X
SI2……….(slightly Included) Noticeable inclusions that are very easy to see under 10X

I1…………(Imperfect) Obvious inclusions under 10X – may be visible to the unaided eye
I2…………(Imperfect) Obvious inclusions visible to the unaided eye, strong effect on appearance or durability
I3…………(Imperfect) Prominent inclusions visible to the unaided eye, strong effect on appearance and durability

It takes a trained gemologist with years of experience to accurately grade the clarity of a diamond. Even though diamonds are graded at 10 time the naked eye, a gemologist may use a microscope at 60 times the naked eye to discover characteristics in a diamond and then grade them with a 10 power loupe.

I have included some photographs taken under the microscope of interesting diamond inclusions and characteristics.