{"id":8837,"date":"2019-03-11T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T10:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/?p=8837"},"modified":"2019-03-11T11:04:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T15:04:56","slug":"why-certify-i-clarity-diamonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/why-certify-i-clarity-diamonds\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY CERTIFY I CLARITY DIAMONDS?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"blog-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Certified-I-Clarity-Diamond.gif\" alt=\"Why Certify I Clarity Diamonds?\" title=\"Why Certify I Clarity Diamonds?\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-8838\" \/><\/div>\n<p><h2>Picture this:<\/h2>\n<p>\nYou walk into a jewelry store&#8230; <\/p>\n<p>\nYou&#8217;re looking at a pair of <strong>one carat diamond stud earrings<\/strong> (<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2F3D8eC\">like these earrings here<\/a>). <\/p>\n<p>\nThe salesperson says &#8220;<strong>These are great diamond studs<\/strong>.&#8221; She smiles&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><h2>&#8220;They&#8217;re certified!&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>You look at the certificate. <\/p>\n<p>\nThe clarity is<strong> I clarity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t get it. <strong>It makes no sense to me<\/strong>&#8230; <\/p>\n<p>\nI clarity is the <strong>lowest<\/strong> clarity range there is on the market&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><h2>So why certify them?<\/h2>\n<p>I could see if it was a higher clarity, like VS clarity (<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2F4pgAW\">like these VS clarity diamond studs here<\/a>). A VS diamond <strong>should be certified<\/strong>. That&#8217;s a clarity that you would want to be <strong>guaranteed<\/strong>. But an I clarity? <\/p>\n<p><h2>WHY?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>You want to know the real truth?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>They certify them to make them sound better.<\/h2>\n<p>\nPeople hear the word &#8220;<strong>certified<\/strong>&#8221; and instantly think &#8220;<strong>good<\/strong>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p>\nFor some people that&#8217;s all the news they&#8217;ll need to believe that they&#8217;re <strong>getting a good diamond and a good deal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>But, trust me, <strong>just because it&#8217;s certified&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>Doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s good. <\/h2>\n<p>Jewelers are certifying <strong>low<\/strong> clarity diamonds to <strong>paint the illusion that the diamonds are better<\/strong> (especially with <strong>I2 and I3<\/strong> clarity stones). <strong>They sugar coat them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\nSlap some paperwork with them, give them the title of &#8220;<strong>certified<\/strong>&#8221; and viola! The diamond sounds better and <strong>sells better.<\/strong> Plus, I have a sneaky feeling that they&#8217;ll probably charge more for these certified stones too.<\/p>\n<p><h2>And that&#8217;s because they&#8217;re certified.<\/h2>\n<p>\nThey don&#8217;t need any more reason than that.<\/p>\n<p><h2>But certified doesn&#8217;t mean squat.<\/h2>\n<p>\nWhat matters the most is the actual <strong>clarity and color<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I clarity is not the best clarity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\nWith I clarity (imperfect clarity), you will be able to see flaws and inclusions with the bare eye. Just by looking at the diamond you&#8217;ll see: cloudy areas, <strong>black spots in the stone<\/strong> (looks like pepper), lines, cracks, chips and flaws.<\/p>\n<p>So don&#8217;t let a certificate fool you. Look at the diamond. Scope it under a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Edr9HQ\">microscope<\/a> or a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2kwSI5G\">10x jeweler&#8217;s loupe<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\nStores are grading low quality diamonds and you&#8217;re thinking you did good&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>WRONG!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>Study the 4C&#8217;s.<\/h2>\n<p>\n<strong>Learn the 4C&#8217;s.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\nFind out what the color and clarity means. <strong>Magnify the diamonds<\/strong>. You&#8217;ll see. They are low grade for a reason. <\/p>\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s pretty funny if you think about it. &#8220;<strong>I promise these diamonds are in the lowest clarity range you can get.<\/strong>&#8221; lol<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>This is what I promise: <\/strong><strong>You&#8217;ll see large, ugly, flaws in the stones.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>Don&#8217;t fall for it.<\/h2>\n<p>\nUnless you really want to buy the cheapest clarity range on the market???<\/p>\n<p>If you see a certified stone&#8230; <strong>Look closer<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>\nIs it yellow in color? Brown? <strong>Dark?<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Look at the clarity<\/strong>. Is it hazy? Foggy? Do you see black specks? Inclusions in the stone? <\/p>\n<p>\nDoes it look like the diamond is cracked? <strong>Chipped?<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>\nDoes the diamond lack life, brilliance and sparkle? <\/p>\n<p>\nThese are all common traits of an <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Clarity=I1&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=0.5&#038;CaratTo=20&#038;Sort=Price?a_aid=JSDG\">I clarity diamond<\/a>. So you see, <strong>you must study the stone.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Anybody can certify <strong>any color<\/strong> and <strong>any clarity<\/strong>. Even the lowest diamond grade  (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/i3-clarity-diamond-sale\/\">I3 clarity<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Once upon a time, only high clarity diamonds were certified. Customers wanted the assurance and guarantee that they were buying <strong>high <\/strong>clarity. Like a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=G&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=SI1&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=0.75&#038;CaratTo=20&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">3\/4 carat diamond, SI1 clarity, G color<\/a>. I would want to make sure it&#8217;s that quality.<\/p>\n<p>But now you get .20 carat diamonds, I2 clarity, J color being certified.<\/p>\n<p><h2>That&#8217;s a joke.<\/h2>\n<p><strong>So be careful.<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>\nYou should be more concerned with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/the-4-cs-of-diamonds\/\">the 4C&#8217;s<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/diamond-cut\/\">cut<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/diamond-color\/\">color<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/diamond-clarity\/\">clarity<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/diamond-carat-weight\/\">carat weight<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Granted, there&#8217;s nothing wrong with buying low clarity diamonds. Most diamond earrings sold on the market <strong>are<\/strong> I clarity&#8230; That&#8217;s fine. But they don&#8217;t need to be certified to make them &#8220;<strong>sound<\/strong>&#8221; better.<\/p>\n<p>If you know they are<strong> I clarity<\/strong> and are fine with that, then it&#8217;s all good. You get what you pay for. But don&#8217;t be mislead to believe that they&#8217;re better or great just because they come with impressive, laminated paperwork.<\/p>\n<p><h2>Confusion:<\/h2>\n<p>Personally, I wish they wouldn&#8217;t certify lower grades of diamonds anymore. I think it only confuses people and gives certified diamonds a bad name. <\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>There&#8217;s no purpose for it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Color and clarity are what matters the most. Not certification.<\/p>\n<p><h2>Don&#8217;t be suckered&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Watch the quality.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Not the cert.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Cheers! :)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Picture this: You walk into a jewelry store&#8230; You&#8217;re looking at a pair of one carat diamond stud earrings (like these earrings here). The salesperson says &#8220;These are great diamond studs.&#8221; She smiles&#8230; &#8220;They&#8217;re certified!&#8221; <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/why-certify-i-clarity-diamonds\/\" title=\"WHY CERTIFY I CLARITY DIAMONDS?\">[Read More&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7,29,3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-certification","category-clarity","category-diamond-guide","category-diamonds","category-engagement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8837"}],"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=8837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}