diamond clarity: clouds v.s. crystals

[sophiaz]

So, I am comparing two diamonds, both round ideal cut, about 1.2ct, G, SI1 (eye clean), almost the same price. So with magnification, diamond 1 has clouds disbursed evenly throughout the stone, the clouds are light in color, and diffuse in nature, the vendor says it is only visible to unaided eye when there is direct backlighting to the stone. (I wonder if the cloud make the whole diamond look less transparent or make the colour appear worse than G?) I am a bit worried because the inclusion is not drawn in the AGS report.

Diamond 2 has a small crystal almost at the centre of the table, and probably a few smaller ones when viewed from the bottom.

For some reason, diamond 1 look cleaner in the magnified image. Diamond 2 look "brighter" in the Aset image (I don't even know if the brightness in Aset matters though).

Which one would you pick?

 

[TitanCi]

I think i'd go for number 2, based on the info. What do you mean the ASET is brighter? As in more red "brightness"? If so, then I think that one will be better...wait for an expert though..

 

[slg47]

I am not an expert but you cannot compare ASET photos from different vendors for things like 'brightness' because each vendor has a different setup.

 

[0-0-0]

I actually look for stones with crystals that are clear/white and eye clean because they make it easy to ID the stone with a loupe!

IMO you can't even compare brightness/contrast levels in ASET/IS images from the same vendor because each shot is still slightly different at such high magnification. What matters is the patterns of color (blue/green/red/white, black/red/white) that ASET/IS images show.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Cloud type inclusions can be somewhat tricky- a bit of a double edged sword if you will. On the one hand they tend to be very hard or impossible to see with the naked eye. So if you are concerned about eye-clean, clouds usually are. But in some cases they can affect transparency. Crystals are more concrete in nature (although actual concrete has never been found in a diamond to my knowlege ), and tend to be easier to see, especially if they are under the table. Contrary to what many people think, black crystals can actually be less obvious than white ones since they tend to be camoflauged amongst the contrast patterns.

With regard to clouds, in VS or better stones they are almost always benign. They are not large enough or numerous enough at that clarity grade to scatter light to the point that light performance is noticeably effected. In Si stones it is a little more likely that clouds will have some effect on visual performance. It is dependant on where in the stone the cloud is located and how big it is.

Take particular note of Si stones that have notation under comments "clarity grade based upon clouds". We have found that these diamonds have a tendency to be not as crisp as stones with a simple cloud inclusions noted on the stone plot.