{"id":8669,"date":"2019-02-16T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/?p=8669"},"modified":"2019-02-16T15:13:41","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T20:13:41","slug":"is-diamond-clarity-really-rare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/is-diamond-clarity-really-rare\/","title":{"rendered":"IS DIAMOND CLARITY REALLY RARE?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Is<\/div>\n

“I know clarity!”<\/h2>\n

\nWhen people think of diamond clarity and the 11 different clarity groups<\/strong>: FL, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2, I3, they tend to think of them as equal and relative in size to each other.<\/p>\n

Most just think that as you go higher up the scale, the inclusions get smaller<\/strong> and the prices go up. <\/p>\n

\nIn other words, the cleaner the stone the better.<\/p>\n

This is correct… <\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost!<\/h2>\n

This is because rarity doesn’t matter much when you think of clarity in equal terms<\/strong> as this diagram shows below:<\/p>\n

\"Diamond<\/p>\n

Most people perceive clarity as equal<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\nThis is farthest from the truth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Clarity is not equal.<\/h2>\n

Clarity gets very, very rare<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you think there are just as many VS clarity diamonds as there are I clarity diamonds, then you’re sadly mistaken<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As you go up the list in clarity, the size of the grades gets smaller and smaller. <\/p>\n

\nIn fact, when you get up into the top 2 grades, Flawless<\/strong> (FL) and Internally Flawless<\/strong> (IF) you get into such a small percentage (2%) that they almost don’t show on the chart. Flawless is extremely rare and almost impossible to find (but you can find them here at James Allen<\/a>).<\/p>\n

See the clarity chart below to see how relative <\/strong>clarity grades are to one another. <\/p>\n

\nThis chart shows you how much of each clarity is actually found in nature<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"Diamond<\/p>\n

I clarity:<\/h2>\n

\nYou’ll notice that I clarity diamonds (the lowest group) actually makes up half<\/strong> (52%) of all the diamond market. Over half of all the gem quality diamonds mined from the earth today are I clarity (I1, I2 and I3<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

That’s quite an eye opener if you think about it. Half of all the diamonds<\/strong> you find will have inclusions large enough that you can see them with your bare eye (no microscope<\/a> or a 10x jeweler’s loupe<\/a> needed). Things like black carbon spots<\/strong>, fractures<\/strong>, clouds and crystals. <\/p>\n

HALF!<\/strong><\/p>\n

SI clarity:<\/h2>\n

Then (looking at the chart again) you’ll see that the next step up is the SI clarity grades<\/a> (SI1 and SI2<\/strong>). SI gets much smaller in size (more rare) than I clarity does. SI only makes up 25% <\/strong>of all the diamond qualities.<\/p>\n

VS clarity:<\/h2>\n

Then take a jump up to VS. This is where they really start to get rare. VS clarity<\/a> (VS1 and VS2<\/strong>) only makes up 14% of the market<\/strong>. They get much more difficult to find. And we all know, the more rare, the more expensive.<\/p>\n

VVS clarity:<\/h2>\n

Higher up the list is VVS clarity<\/a> (VVS1 and VVS2). VVS is only a tiny portion of all the diamonds found in the world. 7%<\/strong>. That’s such a small percentage. This is where you’ll really start to get into major bucks. VVS is highly impressive and highly expensive<\/strong>. They are the cream of the crop.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So clarity is not<\/strong> equal across all grades. Clarity really does get rare. So rare, that Flawless and Internally Flawless Diamonds<\/a> are almost non-existent. You’ll be lucky to even find one of these in your local jewelry store (another reason to shop online). Excellent clarity, but huge in price.<\/p>\n

These percentages (not exact, but close) are why SI and I clarity diamonds are so popular<\/strong>. They have to be… They make up 3\/4 <\/strong>of all the clarities in the world today.<\/p>\n

So is your diamond rare?<\/h2>\n

You bet!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because there is an even more startling figure… <\/p>\n

\nThese 11 grades of clarity (called gem quality<\/strong>) only make up 15% of all the diamonds mined from the earth<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\n(See chart again – blue line) <\/p>\n

\n85% of them are so bad that they aren’t even considered diamonds (industrial rough<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

So now you know.<\/h2>\n

\nEvery clarity is rare<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\nBut some are really rare. <\/p>\n

\nAnd of course, really expensive<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\nI can almost hear the cash registers ringing<\/strong> now…<\/p>\n

\nCheers! :)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I know clarity!” When people think of diamond clarity and the 11 different clarity groups: FL, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2, I3, they tend to think of them as equal and [Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,29,3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clarity","category-diamond-guide","category-diamonds","category-engagement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}