who''s eyes determine eye clean?

[sparklyforever]

okay -
i looked at a diamond beautiful to me in every way ... except maybe one thing.

it was graded SI1 GIA. cushion cut
but i could with my naked eye see very tiny carbon spots looking from top down at a slight angle. the location of these that i could see were close to the edge of the table but more in the middle depth wise.

now the thing is - this didn''t actually bother me personally. you have to really be examining the stone to see these - but i guess because i could see with MY naked eye... i question why it would get an SI1 rating.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/20/2010 8:41:54 AM
Author:sparklyforever
okay -
i looked at a diamond beautiful to me in every way ... except maybe one thing.

it was graded SI1 GIA. cushion cut
but i could with my naked eye see very tiny carbon spots looking from top down at a slight angle. the location of these that i could see were close to the edge of the table but more in the middle depth wise.

now the thing is - this didn't actually bother me personally. you have to really be examining the stone to see these - but i guess because i could see with MY naked eye... i question why it would get an SI1 rating.

Hi Sparkly

YOUR eyes and expectations determine what is eyeclean to you. Some SI clarity grades will be eyeclean and others won't, plus it depends on various factors.

The best thing I can do as this is quite a complicated topic is refer you to these threads from the Pricescope journal and FAQ sections;

What is an Eyeclean Diamond? by Pricescope's Coatimundi

[/url] by expert John Pollard.

 

[stone-cold11]

Ditto Lorelei. Also, not all SI1 stones are eye-clean, many are not, a case by case situation. Even some VS2 might not be.

 

[CLEICS]

Just to kind of follow up from what the others are saying I recently purchased a 0.77 E Si2 RB after my original stone was chipped in resetting (it was a swap plus a little cash as I went slightly bigger/better colour. After looking at probably about 10 SI1 and SI2 stones I was amazed at the variation in eye clean quality! One Si2 0.73 that we looked at had this massive inclusion that was so obvious right in the middle of the stone I was amazed it wasnt considered pique!

On the other hand the Si2 I ended up buying has, on its chart, two internal line shaped flaws one near the edge (so covered that with a prong) and one towards the edge of the centre which took me a few minutes to find even with the loupe! (and that was with angling it under every possible light to try and find it!!) Im really pleased because having also looked at Si1s (and a couple of smaller VS2s) I really felt that my Si2 was visually cleaner, was a great size and because the cut and colour is so good really ''blings'' fire back at you (my husband still cant find the flaw and he has seen the chart!). I honestly think that unless an expert looked at my stone in minute detail you would think it was several clarity grades higher than it is

This experience really brought home to me the importance of examining each stone in finite detail, in real life with good lighting and a loupe! also being able to hide flaws under a setting was a real bonus!

My jeweller did say though that you can get away with a lower clarity in RBs because of the cut shape - all that faceting does a great job of hiding blemishes

 

[sparklyforever]

very helpful answers!
thanks!

 

[Todd Gray]

Thanks for posting the links to those articles Lorelei, they provide great explanations and insight to people who are new to the forum!

 

[Imdanny]

Date: 2/20/2010 8:52:33 AM
Author: Stone-cold11
Ditto Lorelei. Also, not all SI1 stones are eye-clean, many are not, a case by case situation. Even some VS2 might not be.

Yes, and didn't I read on one of PS's information pages that 1 in 100 VS1 might not be?

OP, another thing that might help answer your question is the fact that vendors have written definitions for "eye clean," so it doesn't have to be a subjective thing.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/20/2010 9:59:22 PM
Author: Todd Gray
Thanks for posting the links to those articles Lorelei, they provide great explanations and insight to people who are new to the forum!

Thanks Todd!