Schwanke-Kasten encourages you to consider the third installment in our 4 C’s series, a diamond’s clarity.

In fact, the diamond clarity refers to the presence, or absence, of tiny inclusions or birthmarks which occur during the forming period of the diamond. A lot of inclusions in a diamond can result in less light passing through, which reduces sparkle.

The G.I.A. created an 11-point clarity scale to grade diamonds, meaning they take into account size, color, number, and position of every flaw that is seen under a 10 x magnified lens:

FL: Flawless – No inclusions or blemishes. Extremely rare, in fact, the G.I.A. rates less than 1 in 5,000 diamonds as FL.

IF: Internal Flawless – No inclusions; blemishes are only visible under a 10 x microscope. Shockingly, the G.I.A. rates less than 3% of diamonds as IF.

VVS1/VVS2: Very, Very Slightly Included – Inclusions are very difficult to detect, even under magnification. Their appearance to the naked eye is extremely similar to IF graded diamonds

VS1/VS2: Very Slightly Included – Inclusions are clearly visible under 10x magnifications but are very hard to detect with the naked eye.

SI1/SI2: Slightly Included – The lowest grade of flaws that are typical invisible to the naked eye.

I1/I2/I3: Included – Inclusions are almost always visible to the naked eye. They are very obvious under 10 x magnification and often affect transparency and brilliance.

Anyways, Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers encourages you to come to our Whitefish Bay location to view our full selection of diamond engagement rings.