Clarity

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Diamonds are extracted from the crust of the earth and they naturally occur with flaws.  Diamond clarity refers to the quality of diamonds relating to the existence of internal flaws called inclusions, or external flaws called blemishes.

Inclusions can be classified as the presence of a foreign material or structural imperfections such as tiny cracks that can appear whitish or cloudy.  Blemishes are the surface defects of a diamond such as chips, nicks, polish lines, grain boundaries etc.  However, for grading purposes all flaws are called inclusions.  The number, size, color, relative location and visibility of inclusions can all affect the relative clarity of a diamond.  A clarity grade is assigned based on the overall appearance of the diamond under 10x magnification.

GIA's diamond grading scale is the industry standard for grading diamond clarity

Category	Grade	Description
Flawless	FL	No internal or external flaws. Very rare and precious.
Internally Flawless	IF	No internal flaws. Some minute external flaws. Again very rare and precious.
Very Very Slightly Included	VVS1, VVS2	Minute inclusions, very difficult to detect under 10x magnification by a trained gemologist.
Very Slightly Included	VS1, VS2	Minute inclusions seen only with difficulty under 10x magnification.
Slightly Included	SI1, SI2	Inclusions visible under 10x magnification or by unaided eye to an experienced grader.
Included	I1, I2, I3	Inclusions visible to the naked eye.