VS1 Clarity

[Midway]

Just wanted to ask the experts out there about clarity. If a stone is rated by GIA as VS1 do I need to worry about the placement of the inclusions? I may be cracking up a bit because I''ve already bought and returned two stones and I don''t want to make another mistake. I''m thinking about buying a GIA graded VS1 stone but the certificate shows that most of the inclusions are on the table. 2 pinpricks and a cloud. I''m concerned that I will see something in the rock. Is this impossible with the VS1 grade?

 

[belle]

of course it''s possible that you will see something.
find out the vendor''s definition of ''eye clean'' and see how this stone matches up.

 

[Ellen]

belle, is it really possible he could see something in a VS1? I can''t find the cloud or pinpoint in my VS1 with a loupe.

 

[Midway]

Belle, I mean with the naked eye, not with a loupe. But do you mean that you can see inclusions with the naked eye even in a VS1 stone? I''ve talked to the vendor and he has told me that the inclusions are very small. He can barely see them under 15x magnification. I''ve seen oldminer''s posts on the differing definitions of eye-clean, but he keeps saying that it''s only a term that applies to lower clarity stones.

I''m just hoping that by opting for VS1, I take the "eye-clean" question out of the diamond buying experience. Am I wrong?

 

[oldminer]

One possibly could see VS1 inclusions in a 3 carat emerald cut under the table, but in a 1 carat round or princess cut, it would be VERY, VERY unusual. I have had one recent experience wil a lady who examined her VS2 with the naked eye about 4 inches from her eye and I am convinced she could see inclusions. I was truly amazed.

Her diamondwas eye clean by any normal definition, but not by her unique definitiona dn with her special vision......

Usually a VS1 is a safe bet for eye clean, but it is not 100%.

 

[Ellen]

Midway, from everything I''ve read and seen, VS2 would even take care of the problem for sure, and many SI1''s. One of my studs is an SI1, and though I haven''t tried REALLY hard, I can''t find anything with the loupe, much less my eyes. I just hate to see you go that high in clarity if you don''t have to, it really raises your price and lowers your size.

I didn''t opt for VS1, but I wanted, and found a rarer size, so I had to take the size with the clarity.

 

[codex57]

Possible, but unlikely. Course, you may be one of the rare people with X-Ray vision.

What were the clarity ratings of the 2 stones you returned? VS2 is the point where it should be safe to say they're all eye clean. It's SI1 that may or may not be eye clean.

If you wanna be really safe, you can go up to VVS2. I bought a VVS2 stone. I can barely see the inclusion on the GIA report. I've used a jeweler's microscope and couldn't find it under there, even knowing where to look.

 

[belle]

Date: 12/13/2006 2:53:51 PM
Author: Midway
Belle, I mean with the naked eye, not with a loupe. But do you mean that you can see inclusions with the naked eye even in a VS1 stone? I''ve talked to the vendor and he has told me that the inclusions are very small. He can barely see them under 15x magnification. I''ve seen oldminer''s posts on the differing definitions of eye-clean, but he keeps saying that it''s only a term that applies to lower clarity stones.

I''m just hoping that by opting for VS1, I take the ''eye-clean'' question out of the diamond buying experience. Am I wrong?

you are going to take a big chunk of the ''eye clean'' question out of the diamond buying experience buy going vs1 but it is definitely not fool proof. each stone and it''s inclusions are different and yes, i can see inclusions in vs stones (when i don''t have any correction on my *extremely* myopic eyes!)
i don''t mind a little inclusion here or there, it let''s me know i have MY diamond. if being perfectly clean is important to you, definitely look into vs1 or even vvs2.

 

[pyramid]

I can see inclusions in VS1 diamonds with the naked eye after locating them with a loupe. I now know that this is due to my eye sight as other people cannot see them. In a SI1 diamond any inclusion just stands out to me, I could never be happy with an SI1 diamond. This is just because of my vision though. If I couldn''t see it I would be okay with it, I am not worried about it being in the diamond unless I see it.

 

[february2003bride]

Eye clean? Most likely. Mind clean? Eeehhhhh... depends on you. For some, once they believe they are seeing something in their stone, it''s there whether it is or not.

We did have a bad experience while e-ring diamond shopping at a local B&m store. It was a VS2 stone (can''t remember if it was a rb or a princess, but I think it was a rb) and it had a black carbon speck right by the cutlet. We rejected the stone and the owner came in to tell us we weren''t really seeing a huge black speck. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

We left right after that. It''s one thing to bring out a stone with a huge black inclusion and be ok with us rejecting it, it''s another to say we''re crazy.

So yes, there are possibly VS2 with visible inclusions. Also, keep in mind that a VS2 GIA or AGS may look different than a VS2 IGI, EGL, etc.

 

[Midway]

I guess I was just surprised to see the cert because it had so much stuff in it. 2 pin pricks on the table, one cloud and two feathers on the edges. I was expecting to see a cleaner cert for a VS1 stone.

Oldminer, this is a 1.35, G, VS1 round brilliant. I''d love to go bigger and go down to a VS2, but I can''t find anything like that in the size that fits my budget (~$10,000) and looking for something around 1.4 carots. I know that''s a tweener size and harder to find.

The two I returned were SI1 (ACA and eye-clean though not loupe clean) and the other one was an SI2 that drove me crazy bc i could see the inclusion on the table and saw it every time I looked at the stone.

I wish I could upload the cert so that people could see it, but file size is too big.

I''m not into clarity overkill. I''d be happy with an SI1 as long as I can''t see the inclusions, even from 4 inches away with the naked eye. But my experience with the SI2 taught me that if I can see it, it will bother me, even if it''s eye-clean by the standard definition (face up and from 10 inches or so).

I like the 1.35 because it''s 7.12x7.15, so I think the diameter is pretty good for it''s weight. It''s close to the 1.4, SI2 that I bought, and I''m hoping that the size won''t bug me. My girlfriend is not necessarily into the biggest rock for the money, I think color and clarity are important to her too, as long as the size is respectable.