Clarity - Natural diamonds are never completely flawless

Because a diamond is a natural gem, it will always have some imperfections. The clarity of a diamond relates to the visibility of any imperfections or inclusions in the diamond. These can include superficial or internal blemishes, carbon spots, feathering, clouds or fractures. The clarity measure relates to the number, size, position, nature, colour and contour of any inclusions.

A diamond is said to be internally flawless if no imperfections can be seen by an expert under a standard 10 x magnifying lens, although most grading laboratories use a microscope to examine the clarity of the diamond. Flawless diamonds are extremely rare, and the value of a diamond increases significantly with its clarity.

Because most imperfections are usually only visible through the back or sides of a diamond, once it is set into jewellery any inclusions often cease to be visible. So it is often possible to choose a lower clarity without sacrificing the beauty of the diamond, especially when budget is a major consideration.

The chart below illustrates the grades for a diamond's clarity

Our diamonds usually range between clarity VVS2 and SI3, as we believe this range provides excellent value for money without sacrificing the beauty of the diamonds. We can obtain higher clarity stones if required, depending on size and value. We would generally not recommend stones with clarity lower than SI3.