Diamond Clarity & Color
Both grades are decided under a loupe. This reads them the way they will be seen — in the setting, at that weight, on a hand.
Visible at 10× with a little looking. Almost always clean to the eye.
G · Near colorlessFaces up white in any setting. The value grade.
Usually eye-clean
Faces up white in white gold / platinum · VS2 G · 1.00 ct
VS2 H for this weight, shape and metal — the same appearance, less money per carat.
Price index 92 against 100 for a G VS1 of the same shape and weight.
- VS2 H would look the same on the hand for about 12% less per carat.
Eye-clean is a trade judgement, not a graded property. Where an inclusion sits matters as much as the grade, so read the plot on the report — and look at the stone.
Diamond clarity and color, read the way they are seen
Clarity and color are graded under conditions nobody wears a diamond in: loose, face down, under ten-power magnification, against a master set, by a trained grader in controlled light. The question that decides a purchase is different. Can you see the inclusions with your eyes, at arm's length, in the ring, on a hand?
In the trade that is called eye-clean, and it is not a grade you can look up. It depends on where the inclusion sits, what type it is, how large the stone is and how the shape is faceted. This instrument weighs those factors and tells you where your money is doing something visible and where it is buying a line on a report.
Where clarity stops being visible
Flawless through VS1 is eye-clean in any normal circumstance. VS2 is eye-clean in the great majority of stones. SI1 is often eye-clean and often not, which is exactly why it is the grade to shop carefully rather than avoid. SI2 needs to be seen before it is bought, and I1 and below generally show.
Two things shift those odds. Size, because the same inclusion spreads across a wider table and has more light passing through it: an SI1 at three carats behaves like an SI2 at half a carat. And faceting, because brilliant cuts scatter light and hide a great deal, while emerald and Asscher cuts are step cut — long, open, mirror-like facets that hide nothing at all.
Where color stops being visible
D through F is colorless and priced for it. G through J is near colorless, and in a mounted stone the difference from a D is invisible unless the two are held side by side. K and below is faint yellow, which reads as warmth rather than as a fault, and looks entirely at home in yellow gold.
The setting does real work here. A warm metal lends its color to the stone, so I, J and K face up better in yellow or rose gold than they do in platinum. Larger stones and step cuts both show more color, so a two-carat emerald cut wants a grade or two higher than a half-carat round.
The grades the trade actually buys
For a round brilliant in white metal, VS2 with G or H color is where the curve flattens: everything above it costs more per carat without looking different. In yellow gold, I or J is comfortable. For emerald and Asscher cuts, move up to VS1 and one color grade better, because the cut will not cover for you.
Spend what you save on cut quality. It is the only C that changes how the diamond behaves in light, and it is the one that people notice across a room.
| Grade | Name | At 10× magnification | To the naked eye |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL | Flawless | Nothing, inside or out | Eye-clean |
| IF | Internally Flawless | Surface marks only | Eye-clean |
| VVS1 | Very, very slightly included 1 | Extremely difficult to find | Eye-clean |
| VVS2 | Very, very slightly included 2 | Very difficult to find | Eye-clean |
| VS1 | Very slightly included 1 | Difficult to see | Eye-clean |
| VS2 | Very slightly included 2 | Visible with a little looking | Almost always eye-clean |
| SI1 | Slightly included 1 | Noticeable | Often eye-clean — depends on placement |
| SI2 | Slightly included 2 | Easy to see | Sometimes visible; inspect first |
| I1 | Included 1 | Obvious | Usually visible |
| I2 – I3 | Included 2 and 3 | Obvious, and affects brilliance | Visible |
Grades follow the GIA scale. Eye-clean is a trade judgement, not a graded property, and it moves with carat weight, inclusion type and cut.
| Grade | Band | How it faces up | Best set in |
|---|---|---|---|
| D – F | Colorless | No warmth in any setting | Platinum, white gold |
| G – H | Near colorless | White to the eye; the value grades | Any metal |
| I – J | Near colorless | A trace of warmth, mostly hidden | Yellow or rose gold |
| K – M | Faint color | Visibly warm, and handsome for it | Yellow gold |
| N – Z | Very light to light color | Clearly tinted | Priced as a distinct category |
Questions we are asked
- Is SI1 clarity eye-clean?
- Often, but not reliably. Placement decides it: an inclusion near the girdle or under a crown facet disappears, while the same inclusion beneath the table does not. Under a carat in a brilliant cut the odds are good; above two carats, or in an emerald cut, they are not.
- What is the best diamond clarity for the money?
- VS2 for brilliant cuts, VS1 for emerald and Asscher cuts or anything above two carats. Above those grades you are paying for a description rather than an appearance.
- What is the best diamond color for the money?
- G or H in white metal, I or J in yellow gold. All of them face up white in a ring, and each step down the scale saves roughly ten percent per carat.
- Is VS2 better than SI1?
- On the report, yes, and it costs more. On the hand the two are usually indistinguishable, so the sensible approach is to look at the specific stone rather than the grade.
- Does clarity or color matter more?
- Neither, in isolation. Cut matters more than both. Once you are eye-clean and near colorless, additional clarity and color grades stop being visible and start being expensive.
Beyond the GradesHave the stone recorded
Macro captures of the inclusions that make one stone unrepeatable.