What a Diamond Clarity Chart Won’t Tell You

What is Diamond Clarity?

First off, clarity is the most misunderstood of the four Cs. This is mostly due to the word “flawless” which, unfortunately, is riddled with a lot of heavy social yuckiness. Simply because it makes us think that anything that isn’t labeled “flawless” is, of course, flawed. And, for obvious reasons, most folks don’t want this major symbol of their love to be flawed. But all those diamonds out there, the non-flawless ones, aren’t actually flawed. They’re gorgeous! And unless you’ve got superpowers, applying hand cream with your ring on is going to have more visual impact on the sparkle of your diamond than its clarity grade.

Tell Me More

In simple terms, diamonds with the smallest and fewest characteristics get the highest clarity grades—and the price tags to match. When gemologists are assessing diamond clarity, they’re looking at the number, size, relief, nature, and position of a diamond’s internal characteristics, called inclusions, and surface characteristics, called blemishes. And they’re doing this under powerful 10x magnification. They’re also looking at how and whether (at all) these characteristics affect the overall appearance of the stone. And most of the time, they don’t! 

Eyeballing It

While this can still seem a bit daunting, it’s important to remember that diamonds (or at least the ones we’re wearing) are, in relative terms, pretty small things. This means their clarity characteristics are super duper tiny. In fact, inclusions don’t appear like a crack across your windshield, but are much more like a speck of dust. Maybe you can see it if you squint really hard and at just the right angle, but you’re not going to find it at a glance. Even in some lower clarity grades, these characteristics won’t ever be visible to the naked eye. In the industry, we call this an eye-clean diamond, and it’s what we typically recommend for someone who wants a nice clear stone and has some dollars to spare. 

The IRL of Diamond Clarity Chart Grades

The reality of diamond clarity grades and industry pricing is that you will pay way more for flawless and internally flawless stones. And the truth is, you won’t ever see the difference between that and an eye-clean stone, such as a VS2 or SI1 grade. What’s more? The eye-clean but less clear dazzler will also cost you significantly less. Sure, you’ll know the difference, but trust us — so will your wallet. Because we’re all about helping you get the most for your money. Here’s the breakdown of each grade.

The Nitty Gritty

Now, it’s also important to remember that not all inclusions are created equal, and some are less noticeable than others. 

Common inclusions in lab grown diamonds:

• Pinpoints

The world’s tiniest crystal (just like a diamond itself), barely visible under magnification

• Needles

An elongated crystal, like if you stretched a pinpoint out a bit

• Clouds

Many pinpoints hanging out together, like a microscopic, say, cloud…

Common inclusions in natural diamonds:

• Feathers

Often white—and feathery—in appearance, feathers are tiny breaks in the stone; much like cracked glass, they are often visible from a particular angle

• Twinning Wisps

A bit like a streak of cotton candy, this characteristic happens during diamond growth, when the crystal pattern changes, and often consists of a series of pinpoints, clouds, or crystals

• Crystals

Literally, a microscopic mineral crystal trapped inside a diamond, which could include another diamond!

While some of these might sound scary, trust us, they’re actually pretty cool once you know what you’re looking at. Gemologists are known for geeking out about all the cool sights to see under a microscope. Inclusions can even be a great way to identify your diamond from all the rest. You know, in case it’s ever in a lineup.

Prints Please

Now, think of a clarity plot—those little diagrams you’ll find on the grading certificates of most diamonds .75-carats or larger—like a tiny map of your diamond’s fingerprint. These diagrams can show you just how many characteristics your diamond has, along with what type, their scale compared to the overall diamond size, and where they’re located. 

The plotting diagram should have both a top-down and a bottom-up view of the diamond and might have different colored markings on it depending on type of characteristic. These include red for internal characteristics, and green for characteristics that reach the surface. If you don’t see a full diagram, your diamond grading certificate should note the types of characteristics present, which can still be a helpful identifier.

Flawless? Fine. Included? That’s Cool Too.

Ultimately, if you simply must have a flawless diamond, then go for it! But in our humble opinion, clarity shouldn’t be at the top of your MVCs (most valuable Cs) list. Flawless clarity doesn’t mean you’re getting a bigger, more sparkly diamond. So we say keep cut, color, and carat—all of which you can see—prioritized and you’ll get more bang for your buck. If you’re exploring some of the lower clarity grades, or staring at super-magnified videos of diamonds online and freaking yourself out over inclusion visibility, reach out to our team. We can help you track down the perfect eye-clean stone for your budget.