the third 'C' or Clarity

 CLARITY

I think this is pretty easy to figure out...If there is nothing at all inside the stone but diamond, then it is clear and flawless.

When an appraiser looks at a stone, he does it with ten power magnification.  If he looks at the stone under an eye loop or a microscope and sees nothing at all in the entire stone, then he may judge the stone to be flawless or he may say Internally Flawless.  This includes things like abrasions, scratches and chips.

There are lots of opportunities to hide imperfections in the stone.  When you look at one, the center is pretty easy to see right through the stone to the bottom.  But as you move to the sides, the complex play of light and the many facets of the cut stone can mask what is inside, basically hiding whatever is there with light and reflections.

The jewelry piece may have prongs or a band of gold holding the stone into the setting.  These may be strategically placed to cover a flaw that is located near the edge. 

There may also be flaws in the cut, like misaligned edges to the facets, Facet corners don't meet properly, too large or a damaged a culet, the crown or pavilion are too high or low...etc..

These may more properly be part of the CUT part of the classification of the stone but become obvious under magnification.

These factors are also used to identify the stone in case of theft or loss.  Your appraiser may draw or photograph the inside of the stone.

An experienced person will still see anything that is there.  He or she may raise the magnification to identify anything that he suspects, just to identify it, but the stone is still judged by the appearance at ten power magnification.

The classifications run from:

Flawless(F)

Internally Flawless(IF) 

Very Very Slightly Included !(VVSI1)

(included simply means that there is something present that should not be.)

Very Very Slightly Included 2(VVSI2) 

Very Slightly Included 1(VSI1)

Very Slightly Included 2(VSI2)

Slightly included 1(SI!)

Slightly included 2(SI2)

Included 1 (I1)

Included 2(I2)

Included 3(I3)...after that, you may want to stop thinking about the stone altogether.

In each class, the appraiser may see tiny pinpoints of carbon, wiggling worms of lines, HAZES of imperfections that look a bit like nets or veils, internal cracks, complete or broken diamond crystals floating in the stone, big cracks and veils inside, big crumbs of carbon or completely foreign objects that got trapped in the developing crystal.

One minor bit may get you a lowered rating, but if it is hidden behind facet shadows or edges especially near an edge of the stone, the appraiser may consider it less significant.  Two tiny bits...not too bad and considering where it is again may not be bad.

  Something floating obviously in the clear central area of the stone below the table starts to look pretty bad.  Once you start seeing these things with the naked eye...your rating tends to bottom out.

Sometimes you even see things that look like crumpled foil or cellophane inside.

 

 All this is very fascinating....but...

I bought fairly expensive wedding rings with lots of good sized diamonds for my second marriage.  When we looked at them, I found a pair of rings in white gold(good color) and began the process of checking out.  While that was happening, my "True Love" spotted a ring with stones twice the size in yellow gold....that became the object of desire!  I pointed out that the color was terrible and that there was all kinds of crap in the stones...it did not matter...big and sparkly was all that mattered...Twice the price as well....Sometimes all this just makes no difference...jewelry is often just a gut reaction and nothing else matters.  I suppose I could have had the stones taken out and new ones put in as the ring itself was attractive...but the price was already well beyond my budget.

There are some tell-tale things in a stone(diamond or otherwise) like smooth curved lines or planes, bubbles etc. that tell you that someone is not being honest about the stone.  It is even possible that you can find repairs to a stone.

Basically you do not want to find crap in the stone.  This rating system is too complicated to describe here as you must see examples of placement of flaws and numbers of flaws to fit the stone into one of the classifications properly.  That really only comes from experience looking at stones and at descriptions of what is and is not accptable in a classification.

These standards come from a couple of major organizations that set the standards and provide schooling in the subject.  One is the American Gem Society, and another is the Gemological Institute of America.

If your jeweler or appraiser is a member of one of these groups then you may be sure that the evaluation aligns with their standards.  If I was forced to choose between these two groups, I would probably choose the GIA but both can give you pretty good security.

You can also just buy a loup and take a look for yourself.  You may not need anyone to classify a stone, as you can judge if you like the looks of and want to invest in a stone or not.

Some jewelers can help to disguise problems in a stone, like putting a prong over a flaw in the stone along the edge.  He may have a design that includes overlapping stones allowing him to hide problems in one stone by having another overlap it on a higher level. It would still be caught by the appraiser, but it might appear better to the eye of a casual observer.

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Now just a warning here.  If you start examining things closely, it may spoil the stone or piece of jewelry for you.  You may forever look at the piece and just zoom in on a flaw that you saw with a loop. What no one will ever see by eye becomes very obvious to you forever. It basically ruins it for you.

Especially, be wary of examining beloved family pieces too closely.  It can be very dispiriting.

I owned a rather beautiful carpet that I brought back from Turkey on my lap in the plane.  It was in storage for a while and a squirel nibbled at it.  It was a tiny hole and in no way damaged the appearance of the carpet but I saw it every time I looked at the rug.  I gave it away as I just could not look at it.

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Sometimes it is just a matter of looking at a piece of jewelry even from a couple of feet away.  You like it or you do not.