Diamond Clarity
The very thought of diamonds conjures up pictures of everything grand. These sparkling and alluring gemstones are often called the epitome of perfection. And they have become the go-to gemstone whenever people want to look drop-dead gorgeous. There is no doubt why. It is the hardest gemstone available on the earth and the highly organised form of carbon. You cannot begin to describe its beauty and shine, can you? But that’s not enough when you buy diamond jewellery online or offline. You, on the other hand, should know the fundamentals of this gemstone.
Seasoned diamond buyers, collectors, and investors know what makes these precious gemstones as valuable as they are. They give primary importance to the four Cs of diamonds. Cut, colour, carat, and clarity are those four Cs that determine the worth of a diamond. While the cut, colour, and carat aren’t hard to find, it takes a fine eye to see how clarity affects a diamond’s beauty and price. Here is everything you should know about the clarity of diamonds.
What is the Clarity of a Diamond?
As you know, diamonds are made of carbon. In fact, they are the most concentrated form of carbon available to us. Natural diamonds take millions of years to form. They face extreme heat and pressure in the earth’s mantle. Most of such naturally occurring diamonds have flaws or imperfections. These flaws include different amounts of scars and inclusions on the surface of a diamond, which are called blemishes. Inclusions are internal features trapped in it during its formation. Very rarely do diamonds appear in a perfect and ideal condition. And therefore, they are very expensive as well. The scars or inclusions on diamonds are nature’s birthmarks. They are the features that make these gemstones unique.
So, what do these blemishes and inclusions have to do with the clarity of a diamond? To put it simply, a diamond’s clarity refers to how clean it is. It is the metric used to grade the visual appearance of a diamond.
Flaws, Clarity, and Price
When you buy diamond rings, necklaces, bangles, earrings, etc., remember that their clarity is inversely proportional to flaws. That is, the lesser the flaws, the higher the clarity grade of a diamond will be. The clarity of a diamond can have a great impact on its value as well. A diamond with high clarity is a lot costlier than a low clarity one even if they have the same cut, carat value, and colour. However, most inclusions and flaws are not detectable by the naked eye.
A diamond’s clarity is influenced by many factors. The quantity, colour, and size of the inclusion are some such key factors. It may also change based on how visible the inclusion is. Similarly, its orientation and location also determine the clarity of diamonds.
Understanding the Diamond Clarity Chart
Every diamond is unique. So are their flaws. Since the flaws are mostly microscopic, gemmologists use magnification up to 10x to inspect diamonds. And they do that keeping the diamond in the face-up direction. If any blemish or inclusion is not visible on viewing the diamond from the top, it won’t help in finding the clarity grade. Therefore, experts use loupes or microscopes to analyse the type, position, and size of all the inclusions.
Skilled graders find different clarity features using the 10x magnification. They map the locations of the inclusions the same way on diamond plots. These plots refer to small maps for individual diamonds. They help in classifying each diamond. Every diamond has a different internal pattern. This means that no two diamonds are ever the same. And the diamond plots are like fingerprints that help to identify each individual diamond.