SI1/SI2 eye clean or impossible??

[isis~goddess]

sounds strange. that person doenst know what they are talking about. my si2 is not only eye clean, but i cant see anything in it with a loupe. of course the second time i had it appraised it came in a vs2, so maybe it was graded wrong, or MAYBE the inclusion is down near the culet and you can only see it unmounted from below or something. it depends on where the inlusion is and whos doing the looking, but i wouldnt believe that guy.

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 3/27/2008 9:30:08 AM
Author: Wink

It is actually rare to see an eye visible inclusion in an SI2 from the top and even more rare in an SI1. Now, if you are looking from the side or bottom of the stone, then yes, it is often easy to see inclusions, but this is not how they are graded since the normal viewing position of a diamond is from the top.

In my limited experience, I''d have to agree with Wink on this one. I own several SI2 stones; all are eyeclean to the unaided eye. On two of them, I have a tough time finding the inclusions even under 10x magnification.

This does, of course, depend on the visual acuity of the viewer to a degree. One of my friends has a HAWK eye and she can pick out inclusions more readily than most people I know, and she has owned three eyeclean SI2 stones as well. She now has an SI2 with a feather that she couldn''t see untill she saw it under magnification. Knowing where it is, she can find it in the right lighting without magnification; I still can''t find it even knowing where it is.

While expert opinions are helpful, the most important one is yours. You are the one who''ll see the stone, so you have to be comfortable with what you see. It IS emphatically possible to get eyeclean SI2 stones, so if that''s what will help you to maximize your budget, then I''d keep looking until you find one you can be comfortable with.

 

[simonk83]

I bought this stone (http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-636726.htm) on a recommendation from someone on here, and it''s an SI2. I emailed WF and asked if it is eyeclean, and they replied that it is, and a fantastic specimen I''m yet to recieve it (only ordered yesterday), and it''s actually my first diamond so I''m certainly not an expert, but I feel confident that it will be fine based on WF''s reputation on these boards. It certainly looks very nice in the picture