{"id":9147,"date":"2019-06-09T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/?p=9147"},"modified":"2019-06-09T08:59:55","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T12:59:55","slug":"vvs-clarity-versus-vs-clarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/vvs-clarity-versus-vs-clarity\/","title":{"rendered":"VVS CLARITY VERSUS VS CLARITY"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"blog-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VVS-Versus-VS-Clarity-Diamonds.gif\" alt=\"VVS Versus VS Clarity Diamonds\" title=\"VVS Versus VS Clarity Diamonds\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-9152\" \/><\/div>\n<h2>VVS vs VS?<\/h2>\n<p>\nVVS versus VS is <strong>not a battle<\/strong> between the two clarities. <\/p>\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s more of a closer look and comparing them. I will give you <strong>My verdict at the end of the post<\/strong> though, just so you see where I stand.<\/p>\n<p>\nAnd let me take a second to say that VVS and VS are only two of the <strong>6 high end clarity grades<\/strong> on the market. The order of clarity is as follows:<\/p>\n<p>(Compare diamonds below at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=H,G,F,E,D&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=VS2,VS1,VVS2,VVS1&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=1.00&#038;CaratTo=15.00&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">James Allen<\/a> &#8211; Awesome diamonds, awesome prices, use &#8220;<strong>RINGSUM<\/strong>&#8221; at checkout and save 10% off your ring mounting.)<\/p>\n<p><h2>Clarity grades<\/h2>\n<p>\n<strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>FL (Flawless)<\/li>\n<li>IF (Internally Flawless)<\/li>\n<li>VVS1 &#038; VVS2 (Very, Very Slightly Included)<\/li>\n<li>VS1 &#038; VS2 (Very Slightly Included)<\/li>\n<li>SI1 &#038; SI2 (Slightly Included)<\/li>\n<li>I1, I2 &#038; I3 (Imperfect)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The GIA Clarity Chart is below:<\/p>\n<p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/GIA-Clarity-Chart.gif\" alt=\"GIA Clarity Chart\" title=\"GIA Clarity Chart\" width=\"502\" height=\"115\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9148\" \/><\/p>\n<p><p>Now, let&#8217;s look at <strong>VVS<\/strong>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><h2>VVS clarity:<\/h2>\n<p><strong>VVS means: <\/strong><strong>Very, Very, Slightly Included<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at the picture below that shows VVS clarity diamonds.<\/p>\n<p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VVS-Clarity.gif\" alt=\"VVS Clarity Diamonds\" title=\"VVS Clarity Diamonds\" width=\"502\" height=\"175\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9151\" \/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Very, Very&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>\nThe words <strong>Very, Very,<\/strong> always crack me up because they mean the opposite of what you&#8217;d think.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For example:<\/strong> If I say &#8220;<strong>This table is dusty<\/strong>&#8220;, it means the table is dusty. But &#8220;This table is very dusty&#8221;, means <strong>it&#8217;s super dusty!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\nBut with diamonds, the keywords aren&#8217;t &#8220;<strong>very<\/strong>&#8220;, it&#8217;s actually &#8220;<strong>slightly<\/strong>&#8220;. And the pair together.<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Very slightly<\/strong> means the inclusions are <strong>very tiny<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>So VVS is <strong>Very, Very Slightly Included<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><h2>Perfection?<\/h2>\n<p>VVS is just about as <strong>perfect <\/strong>as you can get. The next two steps higher are <strong>Internally Flawless<\/strong> and <strong>Flawless<\/strong>. Both of which are hard to locate on the market (although James Allen does carry some <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=H,G,F,E,D&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=IF,FL&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=1.00&#038;CaratTo=15.00&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">wonderful Internally Flawless and Flawless diamonds HERE<\/a>). So VVS clarity is usually the highest clarity of diamond that you can usually find.<\/p>\n<p>VVS is very rare and very clean.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VVS is made up of two grades:<\/strong> <strong>VVS1<\/strong> and <strong>VVS2<\/strong> (VVS1 being the better).<\/p>\n<p><h2>VVS definition:<\/h2>\n<p>\n<strong>The definition for VVS is:<\/strong> Small inclusions inside the diamond that are very difficult to see under 10x magnification.<\/p>\n<p>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>, VVS would look practically perfect. <strong>It&#8217;s not<\/strong>, but to the untrained eye (and even some <strong>experts<\/strong>), VVS would be very impressive and you would have a hard time searching just to locate any flaws or imperfections.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Now let&#8217;s take a look at VS&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>VS clarity:<\/h2>\n<p>\nVS clarity is one clarity range lower than VVS.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VS means:<\/strong> <strong>Very, Slightly Included<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VS is broken down into 2 grades:<\/strong> <strong>VS1<\/strong> and <strong>VS2<\/strong>. VS1 is the better of the two. <\/p>\n<p>\nTake a look at the images of VS clarity diamonds below:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VS-Clarity.gif\" alt=\"VS Clarity Diamonds\" title=\"VS Clarity Diamonds\" width=\"502\" height=\"175\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9149\" \/><\/p>\n<p><h2>VS definition:<\/h2>\n<p>\n<strong>The definition of VS is<\/strong>: Small inclusions inside the stone. Some of these inclusions will be easier to spot under magnification, others will still be difficult. Either way, the inclusions will be small and <strong>pretty insignificant<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><h2>The inclusions:<\/h2>\n<p>Both VVS and VS clarity diamonds <strong>have inclusions<\/strong>. These inclusions are generally small pinpoints, lines, feathers, clouds, nicks, naturals, cavities, knots, or abrasions, <strong>nothing that you can see with the bare eye<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><h2>They are all microscopic.<\/h2>\n<p>Inclusions are like <strong>freckles, moles and birthmarks<\/strong> on people. Everything born in nature has their own unique characteristics and <strong>identifying marks<\/strong> about them.<\/p>\n<p><h2>The differences:<\/h2>\n<p>\nWhat makes VVS and VS different are a couple of things:<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>1) The amount and position of inclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2) The size of the inclusions<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>3) The rarity of the stone<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>4) The price<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Let&#8217;s take a closer look&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>1) The amount and position of inclusions<\/h2>\n<p>While it&#8217;s true that <strong>both<\/strong> a VVS diamond and a VS diamond <strong>could <\/strong>have the <strong>same <\/strong>amount of inclusions, <strong>it&#8217;s highly unlikely<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>VVS clarity<\/strong> for the most part, <strong>will have less flaws<\/strong> (cleaner).<\/p>\n<p>You can tell this when you&#8217;re trying to locate them under a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Edr9HQ\">microscope<\/a>. It can take you a while just to even pick out <strong>one<\/strong> of of the imperfections. <strong>They&#8217;re that small.<\/strong> Plus, cleaner diamonds like these tend to <strong>distribute the flaws<\/strong> on the outside of the diamond (underneath the facets vs under the table), where they tend to hide more and <strong>basically disappear<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><h2>2) The size of the inclusions<\/h2>\n<p>Usually the biggest difference between the two clarities is going to be <strong>the size of the flaws<\/strong>. VS will usually have <strong>bigger flaws<\/strong> than a VVS.<\/p>\n<p>I say &#8220;<strong>usually<\/strong>&#8221; because every single diamond is different. There will always be exceptions to the rule. With diamonds, every diamond will gain a <strong>difference of opinion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>When you view a VS clarity diamond under a scope, you can usually pick out a couple of the inclusions easily. Right off the bat, you&#8217;ll see one here, one there&#8230; To me, this is a good thing (<strong>I&#8217;ll get more into that in a second<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p><h2>3) The rarity of the stone<\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s much harder to find <strong>VVS clarity diamonds<\/strong> on the market. They are quite rare in nature and jewelry stores won&#8217;t have an abundance of them (another good reason to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=H,G,F,E,D&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=VS2,VS1,VVS2,VVS1&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=1.00&#038;CaratTo=15.00&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">shop at James Allen<\/a>). So comparing <strong>VVS clarity diamonds<\/strong> will be easy, you will only have <strong>a few to look at<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In nature, finding objects without flaws or imperfections is <strong>almost an impossible task<\/strong>. Nature just doesn&#8217;t work that way. Usually if you do find a diamond that&#8217;s very clean or void of flaws, that diamond will be <strong>weak in other areas;<\/strong> like poor color, or a small carat weight.<\/p>\n<p><h2>How rare are they?<\/h2>\n<p>\nVVS diamonds make up only <strong>7%<\/strong> of the market. VS accounts for <strong>14%<\/strong>. Take a look at the clarity chart below and how rare they actually are in nature.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/VVS-and-VS-Clarity-Rare.gif\" alt=\"VVS and VS Clarity Rare in Nature\" title=\"VVS and VS Clarity Rare in Nature\" width=\"502\" height=\"144\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9150\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As you can see, finding a VVS or even a VS is rare. Especially when you consider that this clarity chart represents only the few diamonds that are of <strong>gem quality<\/strong>, which is just the top <strong>15%<\/strong> of all the diamonds mined in the world today <strong>That&#8217;s slim pickings.<\/strong> :)<\/p>\n<p><h2>4) The price:<\/h2>\n<p>\nVS will <strong>most of the time<\/strong> be cheaper than VVS&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\nBut actually, it&#8217;s not so <strong>cut and dry<\/strong>. There are so many other things that make up the price of a diamond. <strong>Things like:<\/strong> color, cut, carat weight, certification, symmetry, finish, fluorescence&#8230; Any one of these could<strong> affect price greatly<\/strong> and make a <strong>VS more expensive than a VVS<\/strong>. You really have to look and compare every single aspect of a diamond to know which is the better deal.<\/p>\n<p><h2>The verdict:<\/h2>\n<p>\n<strong>Is one clarity better to buy than the other?<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p><h2>Not really.<\/h2>\n<p>\nIt all depends on how much money you want to spend and how perfect of a stone you truly want.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But, in my opinion&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I would say <strong>VS clarity wins<\/strong> hands down. <\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Here&#8217;s why:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>I don&#8217;t carry around a microscope.<\/h2>\n<p>That&#8217;s the <strong>only<\/strong> way you&#8217;ll spot the difference between the 2 clarities: <\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Microscoping them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you put these 2 diamonds side by side on the table, you would <strong>never, ever<\/strong> be able to tell the difference between them (assuming the carat weight, cut and color are the same).<\/p>\n<p>You <strong>would<\/strong> be able to tell the difference in <strong>price<\/strong> though. <\/p>\n<p>\nAs a comparison, take a look at these one carat diamonds below.<\/p>\n<p><h2>Price Comparison<\/h2>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#87c1fc\" valign=\"top\"><strong>CARAT, CLARITY, COLOR, CUT, POL, SYM, FLUOR<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"background-color:#87c1fc\" valign=\"top\"><strong>PRICE<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"background-color:#87c1fc\" valign=\"top\"><strong>VIEW<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF\" valign=\"top\"><strong>1.00, VS1, E, EX, EX, EX, NONE<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF\" valign=\"top\"><strong>$8,260<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF\" valign=\"top\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=E&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=VS1&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=1.00&#038;CaratTo=15.00&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">VIEW<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#cbe3ff\" valign=\"top\"><strong>1.00, VVS1, F, EX, EX, EX, NONE<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"background-color:#cbe3ff\" valign=\"top\"><strong>$9,840<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"background-color:#cbe3ff\" valign=\"top\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=E&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=VVS1&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=1.00&#038;CaratTo=15.00&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">VIEW<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>(Prices good at the time of this post.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>My feelings are this:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>Buy VS clarity.<\/h2>\n<p>It will face up just like a VVS and be much cheaper.<\/p>\n<p><h2>And if you must spend more&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>Spend it on a bigger <strong>carat weight<\/strong>, a <strong>better color <\/strong>, or <strong>the best cut<\/strong> you can buy. Put your money into something that will change the physical appearance. Something you can see&#8230; (<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=F,E,D&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=VS2&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=1.00&#038;CaratTo=15.00&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">like these VS2, colorless, ideal cut diamonds here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>And the last reason <strong>I like VS better<\/strong>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><h2>Identification:<\/h2>\n<p>\nI can scope a VS clarity diamond and see the inclusions.<strong> I like that<\/strong>. If I can see the inclusions in my diamond I can <strong>memorize<\/strong> them and <strong>identify<\/strong> them later.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I can tell if someone were to swap my stone.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A VVS clarity diamond on the other hand, would look almost perfect under a scope. It would be very difficult to find something that stands out. Someone could switch your diamond with a synthetic stone or a <strong>cubic zirconia<\/strong> (CZ) and you would never know the difference under magnification. They would look the same. <strong>Read more:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/is-it-a-cz-or-is-it-a-diamond\/\">CZ or diamond?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>See some flaws can be <strong>a good thing.<\/strong> <strong>:)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So buying the best there is,<strong> isn&#8217;t always the best thing to do<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>I say <strong>buy VS<\/strong> and get a colorless diamond (<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesallen.com\/loose-diamonds\/round-cut\/?Color=F,E,D&#038;Cut=Ideal,TrueHearts&#038;Clarity=VS2,VS1&#038;PriceFrom=200&#038;PriceTo=999000&#038;CaratFrom=1.00&#038;CaratTo=15.00&#038;Sort=Price&#038;Polish=EX&#038;Symmetry=EX&#038;Lab=GIA&#038;Flour=None?a_aid=JSDG\">Like these wonderful VS diamonds here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Cheers! :)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>VVS vs VS? VVS versus VS is not a battle between the two clarities. It&#8217;s more of a closer look and comparing them. I will give you My verdict at the end of the post <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/vvs-clarity-versus-vs-clarity\/\" title=\"VVS CLARITY VERSUS VS CLARITY\">[Read More&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7,29,3,10,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-certification","category-clarity","category-diamond-guide","category-diamonds","category-engagement","category-guides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9147"}],"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=9147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}