LET’S COMPARE TWO DIAMONDS

LET'S COMPARE A GIA CERTIFIED SI1 TO A VVS1 CLARITY DIAMOND

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Richard Scott

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I spend my life comparing Diamonds in the Jewelry Store. Customers are fascinated to see stones side by side and learn why one stone is better than the other.

They always want to know what I’d recommend, and which ones to buy.

Often the qualities they are looking at are a middle of the ground quality versus a higher quality stone.

Is it worth it?

That’s the Big Question!

Comparing an SI Diamond, to a VVS Diamond is pretty much an everyday occurrence. Likewise with color, comparing a Near Colorless Diamond to a Colorless happens all the time.

So with this post, I’m going to do just that. Compare two Diamonds of different Colors and Clarities!

Both of these stones are Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds, GIA Certified, with just about the exact same Carat Weight, Cut (both Ideal) and Price.

So let’s take a look…

At first glance, it seems pretty obvious which Diamond to choose. The bigger one with the much better Clarity! One stone is 1.54 Carat (Nice Size), but the other is 1.56 Carat. One stone has an SI1 Clarity, the other is a VVS1 in Clarity. VVS1 Clarity is one of the BEST Clarity Grades on the market. VVS1 is so impressive, that even to a trained expert it would be difficult to tell the difference between that stone and a Flawless one! Seriously! It’s that good!

Here’s a closeup of the actual Diamond…

Now, before I go on, I will say that that image does not do the Diamond justice! This Diamond should have been cleaned better (Steam Cleaned) before it was Photographed. As you can see, there are small hairs and dust particles on the stone. Things like that should not be there! Because when you look at the actual Plot of the stone, you won’t see any of that. It really needs to be cleaned and re-photographed.

The Diamond Plot below (done by a GIA Certified Diamontologist) shows just a few, very tiny, pinpoints in the stone. AND, those are not even visible from a top-down view of the Diamond. They only show up when viewing the stone from the bottom view.

See the actual Diamond Plot below…

That VVS1 Diamond Plot is literally a clean slate. VVS1 Diamonds are just about as perfect a Clarity as can be. Diamonds of this Clarity are very impressive and very difficult to locate. They are that rare! They are truly a breathtaking experience under a microscope indeed! :)

Diamond Color I

The Color of the stone is nice as well. It’s an I Colored Diamond, so it sits directly in the middle of the Near Colorless range (Most Popular Color Range). Which means the stone faces up pretty White, and most people wouldn’t notice any off-color or Yellow in the stone.

Do note that most Diamonds in the Jewelry Stores today are of the Near Colorless variety.

It’s GIA Certified!

Not to mention the fact that the stone is GIA Certified (The Best in the business). AND the VVS1 stone is bigger in Carat Weight than the other stone.

With the Clarity being 4 Grades higher… (4 Grades is a HUGE Difference – See image below)

…AND the stone only costing $680 more, I think hands down, the better Clarity Diamond is the stone to buy!!!!

Right?

Er, NOT SO FAST!

That’s what most people and even most Salespeople will probably tell you. After all, it’s a bigger sale which means bigger commissions. AND who wouldn’t want to push a VVS1???

But… Since I’m not selling you any stones here, I have nothing to lose. So let’s take another look at these comparisons…

If I was purchasing a Diamond (one of these two stones), I would go with the smaller Carat Weight instead! YEP!

And Here’s Why…

The Clarity of the smaller Diamond (I’m calling it “Smaller” even though the Carat Weight is quite large, just so you can tell these two stones apart easily) is an SI1 Clarity. Which means, it does have more Flaws in the stone that are obvious under 10x magnification.

See image below…

The one Feather at the 11:00 o’clock position is the easy one to see. You can see more of the Imperfections by finding them on the Diamond Plot below…

You have to keep in mind, that you CAN’T see these Flaws with the naked eye! You can only see them under a high powered microscope!

So if you put this Diamond side by side with the VVS1 stone, and looked at them (like you would if they were on your finger), you would NOT see any visible differences between them when it comes to Clarity.

NONE! NADA! ZILCH!

The bigger Carat Weight, the VVS1, will look just like the SI1. Now you may say that the bigger stone is 2 Points larger, and that should be noticeable, but I say no way! Throw 156 pennies on the floor. Remove 2. Would anyone know whether there were 154 or 156 on the ground? Not on your life!

2 Points is not anything you can see with the naked eye. They will appear the same size. The stone is only 1/10 mm size bigger. You’d need a Millimeter Gauge to tell the difference.

Ideal Cut

Both stones fall into the Ideal Cut Range. They both have “Excellent” Cut Grades (by GIA), which is the BEST Cut Grade you can get.

So why would I choose the smaller stone with the lower Clarity?

You have to delve deeper…

Additional Grading Info

Take a look at the Diamond Reports and the Additional Grading Info areas below…

The Polish on the two stones is Excellent (The highest there is). But the Symmetry on the smaller stone is better than the larger. It’s rated “Excellent” versus “Very Good“. YES, I know Very Good is still a top of the line score, but when you’re comparing two similar quality Diamonds, every little dot counts!

A stone with an Excellent Symmetry will sparkle more than a Very Good Symmetry stone. It has a slight edge!

You will notice this from the two pictures of the Diamond Symmetry…

The SI1 has a more distinct Arrows shape in the stone. The VVS1 doesn’t! The Proof is Visual!
The smaller stone has “Triple Excellent” ratings. It really is the cream of the crop!

The SI1 really will give you the ultimate Sparkle, Brilliance and Fire as any Diamond could have.

But there is more…

The large stone has “Faint” Fluorescence, while the smaller stone has “None“. See below…

This may not be an issue…

…or it could actually be a HUGE issue! You have to see the stone with your own eyes to know if Fluorescence affects the beauty of the stone or not.

Sometimes Diamond’s with Fluorescence will look foggy, hazy or cloudy… YES, even in a VVS1 Diamond!

So the stone could be perfect in every other way, but it still could appear milky and low quality just because it has visible Fluorescence. Fluorescence is generally only seen with a UV light, or Black Light. But some appear differently in normal light as well. Not cool!

So while a Diamond that Glows-In-The-Dark may sound neat to own, it isn’t if it makes that Diamond look cloudy or weird.

I normally suggest folks staying away from Diamonds with Fluorescence, unless you can view the stone side by side with a similar quality Diamond with no Fluorescence just to be sure.

What’s the Date?

One other thing that I would notice… The Date on the Certificate!

The smaller stone was just Certified in November (November 20th, 2012), while the other stone was graded 1 1/2 years ago (July 5th, 2011). See below…

The larger stone is still quite new (1 1/2 years is not bad), but if the date were older, like 5 years, 10 years or more, then it could be an indication that the stone was previously worn, exchanged or traded in. Stones that are older may show signs of wear and tear (I repeat “MAY“). The stone could have a small chip on the Girdle, or the Culet could even be cracked. You never know. It happens!

The stone could have been chipped by the previous owner, traded in, and the Jeweler didn’t catch it. Unless you loupe the stone well at the time of purchase, you really would never know. That’s why the Date matters. Get one that’s up-to-date and it shouldn’t be an issue!

Diamond Color F

The smaller stone has F Color, which is “Pure White” and sits in the Colorless Color Range (the highest there is, and my favorite range).

Pure White Diamonds are very bright and very White. They are void of any color whatsoever. White-White!

So while you could place this Diamond side by side with the bigger stone (only by 2 Points), and while you won’t spot a difference in Carat Weight or Clarity… Chances are very good that you WILL notice a difference in Color!

Pure White stones “POP” like a spot light is on them. They make any Diamond look bigger and brighter. They absolutely do!

So the F Colored Diamond will stand out more, shine more, have more sparkles (due to Cut) and look more beautiful than the other stone.

It would probably blow it away!

When I show customers a Pure White Diamond up against a Near Colorless stone, you can hear them audibly GASP! It’s that cool!

Trust me when I say this, the SI1 Clarity is NOT an issue. In fact, that microscopic Inclusion that you see under magnification is a good thing. It’s peace of mind! It will allow you to view your Diamond anytime, anywhere, and see your Flaw and instantly know that that is your stone! (It wasn’t Switched!). This is pretty much impossible to do with a VVS1 stone where there are no visible identifying marks or traits to remember.

See, sometimes Flaws DO come in handy!

The Price

The last difference between these two stones… the Price!

You SAVE $680 on the SI1 stone. That’s a lot of cash. That could pay for the Engagement Ring Mounting, the Wedding Band, and possibly even your band.

$680 is nothing to sneeze at!

Wouldn’t you LOVE an extra $680 in the bank?