Clarity

The term ‘Clarity’ is directly associated with the transparency or purity of the diamond. The stone has unique optical properties, which are capable of producing the optimum level of beauty and brilliance. Limiting these properties however, is the possible presence of imperfections on the finished gemstone that may interfere with the passage of light through the stone.

Most imperfections are not visible to the naked eye although when examined under a 10x magnification by a trained, skilled jeweler, they may appear as dark flecks, bubbles or tiny featherlike shapes. The location and pattern of such internal inclusions and external blemishes on a diamond are commonly referred to as the diamond’s fingerprint.

A flawless diamond is one free from inclusions and blemishes even under a 10x magnification. These gemstones are extremely rare and equally expensive. The market value of a diamond is decreased by it number of imperfections and their visibility to the naked eye.

Relative to these issues, a non-profitable association called the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), developed a scale that attributed abbreviations/clarity marks to differing conditions of the diamond’s clarity.

Clarity	Meaning	Condition
F	Flawless	Free from all flaws, Clear Stone
IF	Internally Flawless	No inclusions visible under 10x magnification
VVS	Very Very Slighty Imperfect	Tiny inclusions- very difficult to detect under 10x magnification
VS	Very Slightly Imperfect	Minor inclusions- difficult to locate under 10x magnification
SI	Slightly Imperfect	Inclusions are easy to see under 10x magnification
I	Imperfect	Inclusions/blemishes are obvious to the naked eye

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