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Cloudy diamond

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bob_dole

Rough_Rock
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Mar 22, 2005
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When a diamond says "cloudy" on the GIA report, is this an immediate problem? I''m just unsure of how common this is, or if there are varying degrees of cloudiness?

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks,

Bob
 

pqcollectibles

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Feb 22, 2003
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3,441
Is "Additional Clouds not shown" written in the comments section on the Cert, or are there clouds drawn on the Cert plot of the diamond.

A notation in the Comments section generally means the clouds weren''t worth drawing or could make the diamond plot look terrible when the stone is actually very nice.

There are varying degrees of "cloudiness" in diamonds. Some diamonds have 1 or more smaller clouds that are not eye visible and do not impact performance while other diamonds are so occluded they are milky and/or opalescent in appearance.
1.gif
 

dimonbob

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
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Dec 12, 2000
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670
A cloud is usually made up of two or more very small pinpoints in the same plane. If they are noted on the certificate as "Additional Clouds not shown", it is almost impossible to find them with a loupe unless you are very good with the loups. They are certainly eye-clean. They also do not effect the beauty or the light return of the diamond.

I do not think the word "cloudy" will be on the GIA Diamond Grading Report. There are certainly many diamonds that are cloudy. I am talking about eye-visible cloudy which would be an SI2 or probably lower in clarity.
 

bob_dole

Rough_Rock
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Mar 22, 2005
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I''m sorry, you are correct. Pardon my newbie-lack-of-knowledge. The GIA report says "Characteristics: Crystal; Cloud"...nothing under comments. Is this normal? It''s an ideal cut diamond.

Thanks for your input.

Bob
 

DiamondExpert

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 15, 2003
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Yes, it's normal. I'm assuming it's a GIA dossier report, since it's under "Characteristics". It usually means that the clarity grade was determined by the inclusions named there, but unforunately you can't tell where they are or what space they occupy in the stone, because there is no plot. You would need to see the stone under darkfield lighting probably to see them at 10x. In a regular plot, the area of the cloud (which as dimonbob pointed out is usually a local area of pinpoints - often minute crystals) is circumscribed by a red line.

The plot is often worse looking than the actual appearance of the inclusion, which may be very difficult to find with a loupe. Most folks don't have enough experience in using a loupe properly, one of the main problems being that it isn't used with darkfield lighting, which brings out the inclusions. A gem 'scope is much better and easier to use...it's just that not everyone has one.
 
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