"eye clean" diamonds

[yngdaniel]

When you get a diamond of SI1 or SI2 grade that is described as eye clean, what does that mean exactly? Should you be unable to see any inclusions at all with the naked eye, regardless of whether you''re looking from the top, bottom or side?

I was told this referred only to a top-down view of the stone, which doesn''t seem too bad considering that''s how one normally looks at it when it''s mounted.

 

[aljdewey]

"Eye clean" means you shouldn't be able to see inclusions with your unaided eye when the diamond is mounted in the face-up position.




You may be able to see them from the side or bottom, but no one views the diamond that way once it's set as a rule.

 

[niceice]

All diamonds are graded for clarity based upon a Top Down View. Because diamonds are faceted to minimize the visibility of inclusions from a Top Down View only, it is common to be able to view inclusions from a side profile, sometimes even in VVS clarity stones...

The term "eye clean" refers to a diamond which is free of inclusions that can be seen without 10x or higher magnification... Of course, the degree to which a diamond is "eye clean" varies upon the eye sight of the person evaluating the diamond and their experience with locating inclusions to begin with... My 17/20 vision (Todd's) enables me to detect inclusions without magnification within diamonds which other graders with lesser vision may feel is "eye clean". Make sense?