Can someone tell me what the effect is of type of inclusion vs value?

gmoney29 · Jul 7, 2004

I needed to rephrase this post as a question. As I am knee deep in my quest to find the perfect diamond, I have been overwhelmed with the infinite details regarding diamonds. The 4 cs'', polish, flouresence, girdles, pavillions, etc. Basically, my question is this: I have been looking at stones and found one that is 1.66 carats, SI1, F with an AGS cert with "ideal" for cut. After looking at the diamond, it has an inclusion that I think is called a diamond deposit or cluster just under the table to the right of center. It is hard to see without a loop (the AGS cert also mentions surface graining). It kinda look almost like a chip or something, but it is not on the surface. I saw a G-VS2 stone with an inclusion in the same spot, but it was more of a black pinpoint. The 1.66 ct stone is being offered for about $13,000. Is this a good deal? Is this type of inclusion bad?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

valdo650 · Jul 7, 2004

Hey gmoney,

I'm not a diamond expert, but I've been researching the engagement ring thing for a while now. I don't know much about the inclusions you asked, but I know you should try to avoid black inclusions and large clouds. These inclusions tend take a lot away from the beauty of the diamond. Also, you need more information on the diamond. Most of the people on this board can't give you a good opinion on the price of the diamond unless you have a lot of the specs like table, pavilion and crown angles, cutlet size, symmetry, polish, and flourence. They also need to know the shape of the diamond. The tutorial on this site is also really helpful. If you want a more laymen's term, you can also check out Tiffany's website that explains a lot of differnet inclusions. Tiffany's may be overpriced, but they have a really good website to learn off of

.

valeria101 · Jul 7, 2004

SI... with an included crystal under the table, I would think (an dyou can read what the inclusion is called on the cert). It would not be the type of inclusion but it's visibility that would make a difference. As far as I understand, this is a more general quality check than "avoid black inclusions and clouds". There is no contradiction between the two - black inclusions are definitely more visible than colorless ones at any size, and would be visible at small sizes when colorless inclusion would not show.

So, why not just avoid black inclusions and clouds? Just because these are not bad if they do not show - and this can well be the case. A black inclusion that does not show without magnification would be less undesiranble than a colorless ("transparent" or "translucent" are just other names you may find for the same thing) one that does show without magnification.

Actually, the bottom line of this is that an eye clena SI is a good deal - something very easy to see, since the "grading tool" is always there. As long as the price is OK and you are confortable with how the stone looks, this is it

The slight price difference than maybe in place between 'eye clean" and non "eye clean" SI is easily swamped by the large price differnces between grades and sellers - so this may not be much of a pricing concern.

It is much easier to analysis one stone, than a theoreticla issue like this, but I hope this helps a bit ...

gmoney29 · Jul 8, 2004

Thanks for the advice. I should have the specs on the stone soon so I can post as to whether I'm getting a good deal. At the moment, I am torn on whether its better to go F rather than G in color, or VS2 rather than SI1 in clarity. I just not sure in the end which makes a bigger difference. Any thoughts on this?