Clarity simply refers to the tiny, natural imperfections that occur in all but the finest diamonds. Gemologists refer to these imperfections by a variety of technical names, including blemishes and inclusions, among others. Diamonds with the least and smallest imperfections receive the highest clarity grades. Because these imperfections tend to be microscopic, they do not generally affect a diamond's beauty in any discernible way.

Clarity grade defined by GIA

The clarity is typically assigned by a first impression or at first glance. The grader notes whether the inclusions are easy, difficult or very difficult to see when they first look at the stone. The clarity grade of most diamonds is determined in less than 2 minutes. The exception to this is in Internally Flawless and Flawless diamonds, which takes considerable examination to assign such a high and valuable grade.

• FL, IF

  Flawless, Internally Flawless: No internal or external imperfections. Internally Flawless: No internal imperfections. Very rare.

• VVS1, VVS2

  Very, Very Slightly Included: Very difficult to see imperfections under 10x magnification. An excellent quality diamond. .

• VS1,VS2

  Very Slightly Included: Imperfections range from difficult to see to somewhat easy to view by the unaided eye. Less expensive than the VVS1 or VVS2 grades.

• SI1,SI2

  Slightly Included: Imperfections are usually easy to see with the unaided eye. I1, I2, I3
  Included: Imperfections are obvious to the unaided eye. Lovida Diamonds does not carry diamonds of I-grade clarity.

What Clarity Grade Is Right For Me?

Select an "eye-clean" diamond - one that has no imperfections visible to the unaided eye. An excellent value, diamonds of this clarity are much less expensive than flawless (FL) or internally flawless (IF) diamonds, which are extremely rare and command higher prices.

Now that you understand clarity, learn about a diamond's carat weight.