Inclusion Paranoia- What am I going to see in real life?

[tigerbell]

We are buying a diamond online and picking based off of the GIA cert and magnified photos from the dealers.

We are looking at SI2 and SI1s...The magnified photos look autrocious...it is really scary to see the inclusions up close and I wish I never knew this existed.

Nevertheless, what is everyone's experience with inclusions in real life? How likely are you to actually see them in an SI1 and SI2 as compared to in the magnified photos?

 

[sphenequeen]

Two words: Return Policy.

If you are going to buy a stone online, only do so with someone with a return policy you are comfortable with. You should be able to have an inspection period where you can look at the stone in person and loupe it to decide if the clarity is something you can live with. Clarity of an SI stone can very greatly to the unaided eye depending on the location of the inclusions and also the type. If the inclusion is dark and under the table, the inclusion may be more obvious than if the inclusions are on the outer edge.

 

[ecf8503]

I have several SI1's with inclusions in areas that make them invisible without a loupe. I would not hesitate to but an eye-clean SI2 that had no durability issues either. That said, I have seen a few SI1's with very obvious inclusions right under the table. You simply can't make a generalization that all SI stones are bad - they need to be evaluated individually on their own merit.