SI1 eye clean: How clean is clean?

[kevinraja]

When someone says eye-clean, what does it mean exactly.

1. Is the stone supposed to be eye-clean when the stone is loose or set on a ring?

2. How far should one hold the stone when making the eye-clean judgement?

3. Should one stare at the stone or just look casually? If one were to stare/look, how long should one be looking at the stone, and should one look at one specific angle or at all angles?

 

[oldminer]

1. Is the stone supposed to be eye-clean when the stone is loose or set on a ring?

It should be eye-clean from the top view all the time. Eye-Clean does not normally include from the back or side view, just the top view. If a prong happens tocover a visible blemish, the stone may look fine, but an honest dealer would not tell you it is eye-clean if a prong hides something otherwise visible.


2. How far should one hold the stone when making the eye-clean judgement?

About 15" or more would be about right. Eye-Clean stones generally are treally not quite flwawless to very close scrutiny. The term itself implies a little fooling of the eye. No one ever describes a VVS2 as eye clean. They only use the term when the stone is likely not to really be totally visibly flawless. Its salesmanship to an extent.

3. Should one stare at the stone or just look casually? If one were to stare/look, how long should one be looking at the stone, and should one look at one specific angle or at all angles?

Don''t look too long or too hard. If you like the first 5 seconds, then go on. Eye-clean implies no visible flaws face-up. If you have radar vision, all bets are off. Its is a term reserved for making a fair clarity sound a bit better. Nothing is changed by the words. Truthfully, a casual observer sees nothing wrong with most I1 or I2 stones. An observant viewer can find fault with almost anything. Moderation is key.

 

[laney]

Here''s just a "consumer" point of view..

Is the stone supposed to be eye-clean when the stone is loose or set on a ring?
I think loose - but obviously on a ring will be it''s home. I agree w/old miner''s assesment that some one should tell you regarding a flaw that could be easily hidden

How far should one hold the stone when making the eye-clean judgement?

I say as close as my eyes can focus!!! LOL... 15" is too far away for me.

... well, unless the rock is 5 cts... then, ok.

My SI2 - from the top is clean at 4"

Should one stare at the stone or just look casually? If one were to stare/look, how long should one be looking at the stone, and should one look at one specific angle or at all angles?

I say STARE AWAY.. I do. I agree the "TOP" is where it usually is judged from.


Ok - I am completely un helpful here... but I just had to respond to the 15". Maybe I''m just blind - but they all look good from that distance

 

[oldminer]

I am laughing! The eye-clean statement is almost always loosely defined. It is primarily a dealer to dealer term and dealers are just full of little things that get you to see it their way. If a deal tells me "eye-clean" I pretty much know there is something he is wishing were not there and that if I look close, I too, will wish it wasn''t there. At 15" you have a chance of not seeing the inclusions of en ey-clean diamond. At 5", with good vision, few diamonds sold as eye-clean will succeed.

The GIA and no other lab use the term because it is not defined to any standard. It is a fun term to play games around, but it is not heavy gemology.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Maybe I''m just blind - but they all look good from that distance

The older my eyes get, the better they all look!!!

 

[kevinraja]

Eye-clean is a relative term.

Here is my quarter cent comment. When somebody, friend or relative, looks at a worn ring, they look at it at about 15-20 inches of length. They hold the hand of the person wearing the ring, slightly tilt their hand and view it. How frequently you see someone looking at someone''s ring as close as 4 to 6 inches. "Eye-clean" should actually mean "eye-clean" to a casual observer at about 15 inches. I have read somewhere that most men don''t know Sh.. about diamonds. They just buy it. Most women don''t know Sh.. either, unless they own one or two already, in which case they have some knowledge as a result of comparative learning. Anyway, how many souls know that there are 4 C''s? and how many what a cut actually is. The first comment you hear from anyone who looks at a diamond is how sparkly it is. I DON"T KNOW WHERE THE HELL I AM GOING WITH THIS. I better stop here.

 

[pqcollectibles]

My daughter''s swim coach got engaged and married in 2003. When we were talking about diamonds (he''d just bought a diamond e-ring for his gal) he only knew about THREE C''s. Princess, round,....... Those aren''t CUT,....... They are shapes. LOL Color and clarity are where it''s at as far as the diamond was concerned. And how much the ring COST him.

 

[Maxine]

WOW It also depends on age!!! Some of us can see way better at 5", and some at 15".........

 

[Dancing Fire]

my pair of eyes is 46 yrs old and si looks eye clean to me.when i''m 56 yrs old si stones will be loupe clean.

 

[codex57]

I'm just dying from reading pqcollectible's comments.