Diamond Clarity – How much should you pay for the Clarity?

By James Morris

Some goes for any of the clarity grades on the chart.  Some high-end entities try and push very high clarity for reasons of being the clearest.  This is one “C” that you can cut corners on to maximize your dollar.  

Basically, you want to pay for what you see and not with what you cannot see.  The only time this rule should not apply is when there is a very low-price difference between two diamonds.  An example  would be comparing a VS2 to an SI1.

Yes, the VS2 is a better clarity, but how much more will you have to pay?  If the VS2 is only a couple hundred dollars more, then going that route makes sense.  But if there is a thousand-dollar difference, then I would say it isn’t worth that much extra money, especially when you can put it towards something you can visibly see on the other C’s.

For an example consider a diamond comes with a clarity plot that says SI1 but doesn’t show any imperfections.  Looks like a great deal! You get that diamond thinking you scored a huge deal; and it turns out looking very milky. This kind of situation can be caused by a very large “cloud” – a type of inclusion that gives a diamond a hazy look that the clarity plot does not include.

In short, trust your eyes and gut when purchasing a diamond.  Just because it looks good on paper, doesn’t necessarily mean it looks good to the eyes. If it’s beautiful and within budget, then you know you have made a very smart buy. 

Tips:

• A clarity plot is a diagram that maps all imperfections found in a diamond. Usually certificates issued by GIA and AGS do not comes with clarity plots for diamonds under 1.00 cart weight. In this case, you will have to trust your eyes anyway when it comes to the diamond imperfections.
• Pay extra attention if the certificate says “clarity grade based on clouds that aren’t shown” – this means – there is a “cloud” too large, that it covers a huge portion of the diamond. This is a big minus for the diamond’s appearance and value.

Location, Location, Location

As with real estate, this is paramount to maximize your dollar.  Let’s take the clarity grade of SI1 and lay ten of them beside one another.  The price will be different between them all as well as the where abouts on the inclusions.  There will be very exceptional SI grades as well as not so exceptional SI grades.  

The learning of diamonds can be quite overwhelming. The domain spread across chemistry, physics, and fashions. If you are looking to get the best value for your dollar -there are few things you must know. Here is a collection of blog posts containing everything you need to know before purchasing a diamond.