What Is The Clarity Of A Diamond?

Diamonds come from deep within the earth under extreme heat and pressure. Most of the time, they contain birthmarks that are unique for each diamond. The birthmarks are internal (inclusions) or external (blemishes). Therefore, there are no two diamonds with the same birthmarks, diamond clarity refers to the absence of these inclusions, and diamonds without any inclusions are very rare. 4 factors determine how a lab will assign a clarity grade, the size of the inclusion, the amount of the inclusion, the position of the inclusion, and the visibility of the inclusion. 

There are two kinds of inclusions: Internal and External.

1. External inclusions include a natural, a scratch, a surface graining, and a chip. 

2. Internal inclusions include A crystal, a cloud, a pinpoint, a group of pinpoints, a crack, and a feather. 

A significant factor in the value of the diamond is in its amount of inclusions. For this reason, buying a diamond with fewer inclusions can be very expensive for the customer. 

A great way of purchasing an eye-clean diamond for a better price is to look for a clarity-enhanced diamond. A clarity-enhanced diamond uses a process that enhances its natural clarity by one or two grades. This process can be done in two ways: The first one is laser drilling, and it will leave marks, and the process is not reversible. 

The other one is more “clean” and known as filling. Furthermore, this filling process is reversible. It means you can always bring back the diamond to its original clarity as it was before the enhancement. 

The filling process is a special treatment that not all diamonds can afford. On average, only one out of 500 diamonds can be enhanced with the filling process as it can only enhance “feather” inclusions (see diagram, for example). The most significant advantage for the consumer in buying a clarity-enhanced diamond is that you can get a VS-2 clarity diamond for almost the same price as an SI-2 clarity diamond before the enhancement.