Diamond Inclusion Opinions

[ea]

I'm starting my e-ring diamond selection process now, and have some questions about inclusions. The diamonds I'm looking at are all SI1 at the moment (there doesn't seem to be alot of stock right now?), so knowing more details about inclusions is important for me.

I'm planning to call next week to get a gemologist's professional & in-person opinion of the diamonds, but wanted to run the pictures through everyone here to get some thoughts. I know it's hard to really say which diamond is better (i.e. which one is more eye clean, etc.) by these pictures alone, but I just want to get an idea of whether certain inclusions, locations of inclusions, and/or other related inclusion properties are red flags/of note.

Some example questions I have:
- are certain inclusions worse than others [for clarity? for structural integrity? for cloudiness? for (superior ideal) cut?]
- should any of the diamonds be eliminated from consideration?)


Legend (not all diamonds have all types of inclusions; I've listed what inclusions exist beside each diamond heading):


Diamond 1 (Cloud, Crystal, Feather) & Diamond 2 (Cloud, Needle, Pinpoint):



Diamond 3 (Cloud, Crystal) & Diamond 4 (Crystal):



Diamond 5 (Cloud, Crystal):



Thanks!

 

[diamondloveaffair]

This exercise is almost futile. When you look at Si1 diamonds, the range is really big when it comes to inclusions that could be issues (be it eye cleanliness or durability issues). The same type of inclusion (for example, feather) might be OK in one SI1 stone and not the other.

Here's another example. pinpoints by themselves will NEVER cause a diamond to be graded as SI1 unless there are so many of them and the most common result that causes issues is a clarity grade based on pinpoints not shown. What I am trying to say here is, even if I tell you pinpoints are great types of inclusions to have, you will NEVER find an SI1 diamond with only pinpoint inclusions as standalones without being combined with other grade setting inclusions.

In short, you are trying to get absolute answers for something that cannot be categorized in absolute terms.

At the end of the day, you will get back to square one. Get the opinion of an expert on that stone before you make purchases. Discussing it on pricescope like you did without images/videos is just pointless.

 

[marymm]

From what I understand, SI1 inclusions ordinarily should not pose durability problems.

I also agree with the poster above who suggests you need the stone in hand to examine before you can made judgments as to its inclusions - for example, crystals and needles can be white or clear or dark in color; feathers can be oriented horizontally or vertically; clouds can be more or less noticeable depending on lighting conditions, etc.

For me personally, I generally prefer SI1 stones with inclusions located off to the side rather than center of table... but with enough information (enlarged photos, videos, ASETs, IdealScopes; gemologist's comments/opinions) even table-centric inclusions may be acceptable if all other considerations are persuasive.

I am glad you will be consulting an expert - hopefully this person is an independent appraiser/gemologist rather than someone also in the business of selling diamonds.

 

[TC1987]

Read through the Pricescope tutorials. Read http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/SI/ and that entire section, actually.

this http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/InclusionGallery/ gallery of pics

Internal graining can be brown or some other objectionable color, and you may see internal graining when you tilt the diamond.
Feather is a crack, so where the feather is and how large can make a difference in buy vs. not buy.

Also, with a hearts & arrows, an inclusion that sits over or passes over a main might be seen, so as they said, it's all comparative and has to be evaluated on an individual basis. Another thing is size of diamond, because inclusions are scaled to the size of the diamond. SI1 in a large diamond might not be as eye-clean as you'd like.


There is some other site with inclusions on the web someplace but I can't recall what site.

 

[ea]

Thanks for the information/replies! Learnt some more about inclusions in my ever expanding knowledge of diamonds.

I got in touch with a gemologist, and they were able to give me their in-person impressions of the diamonds. Diamond 3 and Diamond 5 have visible inclusions for people with really good eyes, but the others are eye clean from 6 inches out.

Narrows the selection down to 3... .