Diamond clarity

Diamond clarity describes a diamond’s internal characteristics, known as inclusions, and its surface characteristics, known as blemishes. Alongside cut, colour and carat weight, it forms one of the four quality factors known as the 4Cs.

Specialists assess clarity characteristics under 10× magnification, considering factors such as their number, size, nature, position and visibility. The GIA scale has 11 grades from FL to I3. At 10× magnification, a trained grader sees no inclusions or blemishes in an FL diamond and no inclusions in an IF diamond. These are followed by VVS1/VVS2, VS1/VS2, SI1/SI2 and I1/I2/I3, with increasingly noticeable inclusions.

A clarity grade alone does not describe a diamond’s overall appearance. Whether characteristics are visible without magnification should be assessed in the individual stone.