Help with "eye clean"

[sphillip11]

Hi Pricescopers-

I'm new to this forum and learning a lot! I've been doing some research on the kind of engagement ring I want and see that the Whiteflash ACA princesses are well regarded here. I'm a little confused about the term "eye clean" though. I see that the ACAs are considered ideal cut and eye clean but this diamond below appears to have a giant inclusion just left of center. Am I crazy or missing something? How can this diamond be considered eye clean? I know it's an S1 but that is a really obvious inclusion. Or maybe it just seems so in a small diamond that is highly magnified?

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2803922.htm

My boyfriend wants me to pick what I want so my plan to make things easier is to pick the setting (Sleek Line Legato Pave) and then tell him to select whichever ACA princess he wants pending how much he wants to spend. My thought was that the ACAs are all going to be great so I don't need to choose the specific diamond but to be honest I would be unhappy if I'd received the above diamond with that obvious inclusion. Do I need to bump up my clarity requirements to VS2 or greater?

It's worth mentioning that I don't want a large stone and would prefer a princess cut in the range of .5 to .75 carats so maybe in a smaller stone that inclusion wouldn't be obvious? Any advice on selecting among the ACA princesses in that size range?

Thanks in advance!
Stacey

 

[hawk25]

It's definitely possible for an SI1 to be eye clean, there are plenty out there, but you have to determine what your definition of eye clean is. The stone you're looking at was called eye clean by WF because it met their definition, which is a person with 20/20 vision looking from a face up position at 10 inches. Your definition may be 6 inches from all sides, which may be important since the Legato head shows the stone from the side. You can ask a WF rep to get their gemologist to look at the stone again, and see if it meets your definition. For an idea, try to take something that's 5mm x 5mm (like the end of a pen cap) and find out how close you can focus on it. I'd be surprised if it's closer than 6 inches.

The inclusion may look big on the pictures, but it's highly magnified. It helps that the inclusion isn't black, and which an ideal cut stone all you'll see are sparkles, not a colorless crystal. I'd definitely ask the rep though for their opinion.

PS: Love the setting choice, I'm buying the same one for my gf

 

[diamondloveaffair]

That diamond belongs to one of the SI diamonds that would most likely not be eye clean. You don't necessarily have to go higher in clarity but I would think you will be better off choosing another SI1 stone.

 

[04diamond<3]

I'd suggest this:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2835503.htm

It has nearly the same mm as the one you posted so even though the ct weight is smaller they will look about the same in size. It's also not as deep as the one you posted.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I'd definitely go to F-G-H and VS2+ if it were me.

 

[sphillip11]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm still just doing research at the moment so these stones will likely be sold by the time we get around to this but the information and thoughts are really helpful with regards to things to look for in the future. Thanks!