QUESTION FROM GWEN IN TULSA, OK:
Question :
6 months ago I purchased a Three Diamond Ring. The middle Diamond has a GIA rating of VS1 for Clarity. A week ago when I was cleaning my ring I noticed a very obvious, very eye visible dark circle immediately below the top prong. I will take it back to the Jeweler, but is that a flaw I never noticed before? I thought the GIA rating guaranteed no visible flaws. Am I wrong or could it be something to do with that prong?
ANSWER FOR GWEN:
Hi Gwen.
Being G.I.A. and VS1, you are correct, there should be no visible dark flaws. I would believe that if it was an eye-visible flaw that you would have noticed it before. So there may be a couple more things happening. One could be dirt or debris stuck on the bottom of the Diamond reflecting back. It could also have water stains on the stone. I have seen some Diamonds come in with iron stains on the Diamond from well water that was difficult to get off the Diamond, but it does come off.
The only other thing that comes to mind is the prongs. You say the circle is directly beneath a prong, which means it could actually be a reflection of the prong itself. If the prong gets lifted or pulled up off the stone a little, it can actually cause a reflection of it to appear in the Diamond.
But no matter what, there should not be any visible dark spots in a VS1 Diamond. SI maybe, VS nope! Take it to the Jeweler and have them clean it well and check the prongs. Chances are, that will fix your problem! Good luck!
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