Diamond Clarity: Internal Flaws Reduce a Diamond’s Brilliance.

A diamond is graded through an analysis of the stone under 10x magnification. When a diamond is magnified, the internal flaws or inclusions can be seen—the more inclusions a diamond has, the less light is reflected out of the diamond. Usually the smaller microscopic flaws do not affect the brilliance and fire of the diamond, but larger flaws can affect brilliance.

At the top of the scale are Flawless diamonds (FL), with no flaws or inclusions. Next on the scale are Internally Flawless diamonds (IF), with no inclusions and only very minor blemishes on the surface. Diamonds with worse clarity are Inclusion diamonds (I1-I3), whose flaws are clearly visible and can be seen even without magnification.

E.S. Designs does not carry any I-Graded diamonds because this clarity grade detracts from the diamond’s fire and brilliance.