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Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2003
- Messages
- 3,305
Yes, there is IF (which can have certain minor blemishes as @distracts has referenced above), and then there is F. That means that the stone - at 10x - has no internal inclusions nor external (however, I do recall that a stone can have an extra facet on the pavilion and still get a Flawless grade). And, as referenced here above, to be given that grade, the stone is put under extreme scrutiny. Getting it “right” means the difference of huge dollar amounts (HUGE) and this is what it’s all about if you work in any capacity in this industry, starting from the mining of the stone all the way down to the jeweler selling it to the customer, and every person who handles that stone in between. That’s why, quite often, a cutter may receive an IF and then send it back to the Lab for re-grading because the difference in revenue is significant. These are considered the “special stones” (not that they all aren’t special to us, of course, because they are ours!), but the cutter knows it is a special stone when they purchase and evaluate the rough (and they’ve paid dearly for that rough, it is extremely expensive). The margins on diamonds is quite low, in spite of how much it costs for us, the consumer. Anyhow, back to grading... a “Potential”, a stone that is a candidate for a Flawless grade, is not like grading a VS, as example. (Even on a VVS, to see a tiny pinpoint is very difficult.) Often, with these “special stones”, they will be returned to the cutter with a designation as a “Potential” which means that in the current way it was when submitted, the lab gave it an IF, but if the cutter wants to make a specific modification it would get a Flawless on a re-submission (assuming nothing goes awry). Similarly, certain stones that are initially graded as VVS1 can be returned from the lab to the cutter as being deemed “Improvable” where if the cutter makes specific polishing modifications the stone could be graded IF. It is up to the cutter in consort with the owner of the stone if they want to make these modifications as in doing so will affect carat weight and carat weight = value = $. Yet, obviously going from VVS1 to IF, and IF to F also = value =
$$$!!! As an FYI, there’s a little lingo about this... a stone in possible contention for receiving a Flawless upon resubmission after modification is referred to as a “Pot” or a “Not”, as in it’s either a “Potential” or its not lol, IF would be the highest grade that particular stone could get. Also, remember that a stone that gets IF or F is not necessarily free of clarity characteristics in total... we are talking about at 10x. You may be able to see the tiniest of pinpoints at, say, 40 power on the microscope, but if it isn’t there when you turn the knob back down to 10x it “isn’t there” as far as grading is concerned.
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