Clarity ?

[Leanne]

I don''t understand the clarity ratings. I''ve read that the clarity is first judged by looking at the stone from the top without a loupe. Then I''ve read that it is judged by looking under a scope. Which is it?

 

[oldminer]

Use a loupe AND a microscope. Not really much is done with the naked eye.

 

[niceice]

The industry standard for grading diamond clarity is a 10x diamond grading loupe. The Gem Scope is essentially a hybrid of the 10x diamond grading loupe and enables the user to view the diamond or gem under a variety of higher magnifications with a controlled light source and a gripper which holds the diamond in a more stable position. The magnification of the gem scopes usually starts at 10x and goes up to 70x - the land where you can watch your blood cells move about on a glass slide, adaptors are available to increase magnification as much as 125 times. Diamonds are graded for clarity from "a crown view" which means that they are viewed from the top down, the crown encompassing the entire top section of the diamond. It is common for inclusions to be visible from the side view of a diamond without magnification, even in higher clarity grades.