IF clarity grade with "Surface Graining, Minor Details Of Polish"

[tripleX]

Hi all,

I have purchased this diamond and it has an IF clarity rating. In the comments section however, it states "Surface Graining, Minor Details Of Polish".

GIA - Report Check

www.gia.edu

I've seen the video and the diamond looks absolutely clean, but the vendor rates the stone's clarity as "IF-", meaning they actually think it should have received a VVS1 clarity rating. This particular vendor have their own in house GIA trained gemologists and have a way to compare GIA ratings. Sometime they differ (for better or worse).

My question is though, if the stone has an IF rating, where is the surface graining and how can a stone be IF with any sort of graining? I note this differs to other GIA certs that I have seen which say "Surface Graining is not shown, Minor Details Of Polish are not shown". Have GIA changed the way they comment?

If anyone could assist to understand this, it would be much appreciated. I will find the video and share it tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

[oldminer]

If the graining is totally on the surface and quite faint the diamond it can be graded "INTERNALLY FLAWLESS" or "IF". The diamond would not rate "FLAWLESS" that way. This diamond likely is graded in the normal GIA way. For those who split hairs about the top clarity grades, anything disturbing the situation creates problems.

If you are buying such a diamond for someone to wear, the likelihood of the stone remaining IF over extended time is questionable. In due course, it may become a lower clarity by accident or normal wear and tear. Even storing the diamond in contact with other diamonds may alter the clarity grade eventually. On the other hand, if you are buying such a diamond as storehouse of value and have no intention of it being worn, then possibly in your search for perfection, this diamond may not be right for your purposes. When you put something away for the distant future, it is best to select things which leave no wiggle room for future haggling over their condition or their value. If this situation is worrisome to you now, do you want to extend the worry over many years only to find that a future customer for this diamond may have identical worries which may make them refuse to buy the diamond from you?

I have never advocated for diamonds as pure investments, but know people who believe in such an approach. In buying an investment, you want things which don't need to be explained or overlooked. Keep it simple from the start or you will extend your doubts over many years.

 

[flyingpig]

"xxx is/not shown" applies to the diamond grading report with the clarity characteristic diagram.

Your report is a dossier report without the full diagram. It would be silly to note "xxx is/not shown" when there is no diagram to show inclusions to begin with.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Clarity characteristics are divided into two categories - internal characteristics are considered "inlusions" and surface characteristics "blemishes". The internally flawless grade (IF) by definition has some blemish, otherwise it would get a grade of Flawless (FL).

 

[Karl_K]

The way I was taught by was with an IF the comments should be viewed as the lab saying:
This stone did not get FL because of:
so it would be this stone did not get FL because of: "Surface Graining, Minor Details Of Polish"
Both could and probably are very tiny but its the reason it did not get FL so its listed.

Is the person at the vendor who they claim was trained by GIA actually looking at the stone when making the comment "IF-" or making the comment based on the report?

 

[hnhn]

If the graining is totally on the surface and quite faint the diamond it can be graded "INTERNALLY FLAWLESS" or "IF". The diamond would not rate "FLAWLESS" that way. This diamond likely is graded in the normal GIA way. For those who split hairs about the top clarity grades, anything disturbing the situation creates problems.

If you are buying such a diamond for someone to wear, the likelihood of the stone remaining IF over extended time is questionable. In due course, it may become a lower clarity by accident or normal wear and tear. Even storing the diamond in contact with other diamonds may alter the clarity grade eventually. On the other hand, if you are buying such a diamond as storehouse of value and have no intention of it being worn, then possibly in your search for perfection, this diamond may not be right for your purposes. When you put something away for the distant future, it is best to select things which leave no wiggle room for future haggling over their condition or their value. If this situation is worrisome to you now, do you want to extend the worry over many years only to find that a future customer for this diamond may have identical worries which may make them refuse to buy the diamond from you?

I have never advocated for diamonds as pure investments, but know people who believe in such an approach. In buying an investment, you want things which don't need to be explained or overlooked. Keep it simple from the start or you will extend your doubts over many years.

So that means VVS1 without surface graining is better grade than IF with surface graining?

 

[oldminer]

"So that means VVS1 without surface graining is better grade than IF with surface graining?"

No, that is not correct. It means the graining is external, not internal and of very light relief. IF is a higher grade than VVS1. These should be no confusion on that point, no matter how little difference it makes.

This means that to some buyers and sellers, that an IF with Surface Graining may be a tiny increment lower in clarity than IF without surface graining. That's what haggling is all about. Such haggling techniques are not about diamond grading, but arbitrage in a free market.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

By far the most common comment on an IF is "minor details of polish".

So, if you want to split hairs (as @oldminer mentioned), additional features mentioned in comments or blemishes actually plotted could arguably be said to represent a slightly "lower" IF grade.

 

[hnhn]

"So that means VVS1 without surface graining is better grade than IF with surface graining?"

No, that is not correct. It means the graining is external, not internal and of very light relief. IF is a higher grade than VVS1. These should be no confusion on that point, no matter how little difference it makes.

This means that to some buyers and sellers, that an IF with Surface Graining may be a tiny increment lower in clarity than IF without surface graining. That's what haggling is all about. Such haggling techniques are not about diamond grading, but arbitrage in a free market.

Thank you so much for clarify this.

 

[hnhn]

By far the most common comment on an IF is "minor details of polish".

So, if you want to split hairs (as @oldminer mentioned), additional features mentioned in comments or blemishes actually plotted could arguably be said to represent a slightly "lower" IF grade.

I like the word "lower" you mentioned.
Thank You!

 

[oldminer]

If clarity features end up "plotted" you will very likely be seeing a VVS clarity grade. on the report. Features that don't rise to the level of being plotted are of extremely low low relief. Of course, no features get plotted at all on GIA Dossier reports no matter what grade of clarity is determined.

In the end, the clarity grade GIA assigns is "the Grade". The clarity plot GIA puts on a report is not the grade, but their artistic rendering of the clarity as they draw it. Usually clarity plots have some correlation to the location and size of clarity issues in the existing diamond, but sometimes they are more Picasso-like than total realism. The grade is "the Grade". The plot and comments are food for haggling and fine-tuning, but not "the Grade".

 

[musicloveranthony]

Do surface imperfections have higher likelihood of further abrasion/chipping/etc. than internal imperfections?

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Do surface imperfections have higher likelihood of further abrasion/chipping/etc. than internal imperfections?

Not in an IF grade, nor really in any of the upper grades. A blemish like a chip or a natural could potentially be a durability issue, especially in the lower clarity grades. In the case of fancy shapes with points such as princess, this is something to look at carefully.

 

[hnhn]

Not in an IF grade, nor really in any of the upper grades. A blemish like a chip or a natural could potentially be a durability issue, especially in the lower clarity grades. In the case of fancy shapes with points such as princess, this is something to look at carefully.

Good to know!
That was stop me every time hitting surface graining stones in iF grade.
Thank you!