Diamonds are graded by their clarity, a term used to describe the level of purity of a diamond.
Many consumers become quite confused when the terms used for evaluating a diamond’s clarity are bandied about by those who are more knowledgeable about diamond grading practices.
What do all those “V”s and “S”s mean anyway? Is a VVS better than a VS? And why do some diamonds also have numbers in their grades? What’s the difference between an SI-2 and an SI-1?
As with any field requiring training and expertise, the jargon used in the diamond business can be daunting ... yet it need not be, and the following chart should make it fairly simple to understand what all those letters and numbers mean. This information will put the range of diamond qualities in a context that you can use when making a purchase of diamond jewelry.
A Few Terms You Should Know Before You Get Started
- Blemish: An external imperfection on a diamond.
- Cleavage: The natural tendency of a crystal to break along a certain plane. Diamonds have perfect cleavage, making them excellent stones for fashioning into many shapes ... but they are so hard that once the earliest cleaving is completed, they can then only be cut and shaped by other diamonds. (Low-grade “industrial” diamonds are used to make the grinding tools necessary to cut diamonds.)
- Flaw: An internal or external blemish, fissure, carbon spot, or knot present on a diamond.
- GIA: The Gemological Institute of America, a nonprofit, educational organization whose grading systems are used as the standard throughout the jewelry industry.
- Imperfection: The same thing as a flaw; the terms are often used interchangeably.
- Inclusion: Any visible, internal flaw in a diamond.
- Loupe: A small, 10X magnifier that fits in the eye.
- Round brilliant: The most common cut of diamonds, as well as the most popular. It has 58 facets, and the “Ideal Cut” is the industry standard for the perfect Round Brilliant cut.
- 10X: Ten power magnification, the most commonly used magnification by jewelers for examining diamonds, gemstones and other jewelry.
THE GIA GRADES: How diamonds are evaluated
- F Flawless Completely free from all internal and external inclusions, blemishes, flaws, or other imperfections.
- IF Internally Flawless No internal inclusions of any kind visible to a trained eye at 10 power (10X) magnification.
- VVS-1 Very, Very Slight Inclusions #1 One or more very minor inclusions that are extremely difficult to locate by a trained eye at 10X magnification.
- VVS-2 Very, Very Slight Inclusions #2 One or more very minor inclusions that are very difficult to locate by a trained eye at 10X magnification.
- VS-1 Very Slight Inclusions #1 Minor inclusions that are difficult to locate by a trained eye at 10X magnification.
- VS-2 Very Slight Inclusions #2 Minor inclusions that are somewhat difficult to locate by a trained eye at 10X magnification.
- SI-1 Slight Inclusions #1 Noticeable inclusions that are easy to locate by a trained eye at 10X magnification.
- SI-2 Slight Inclusions #2 Noticeable inclusions that are very easy to locate by a trained eye at 10X magnification, and possibly by an untrained eye. Some inclusions may also be visible without magnification.
- I-1 Included #1 Obvious inclusions, flaws, carbon spots, and/or blemishes that are somewhat easy to locate by a trained or untrained eye without magnification.
- I-2 Included #2 Obvious inclusions, flaws, carbon spots, and/or blemishes that are easy to locate by a trained or untrained eye without magnification.
- I-3 Included #3 Obvious inclusions, flaws, carbon spots, and/or blemishes that are very easy to locate by a trained or untrained eye without magnification.
