I’m starting to look at engagement rings and I hope you can help me learn a bit more about diamond clarity. The other three C’s seem straightforward, but looking at clarity, it seems like it gets a bit more complicated.
When looking at a diamond, how concerned should I be about inclusions? Does it basically boil down to being eye clean or not, or are some (such as feathers) worse than others?
Thanks for your help!
What shape are you looking at? There may be other factors depending on shape.
I’m looking at round diamonds between .60 and 1 ct for an engagement ring. I’ve tried to research as much as possible and I’ve looked at various websites and tried to make sense of it all, and I’ve probably obsessed a bit much over inclusions, but I guess my biggest concern is the structural soundness of the diamond. I just have this nagging fear that if I picked out a diamond with a feather that one day it’s going to crack and lose the diamond.
Thanks again for your help, and I’m glad your site pointed me to James Allen! I’d been looking at Adiamor and Blue Nile, but being able to actually see an image of the diamond is certainly a plus to me!
If you are getting an SI1 or better, the chances of a round diamond chipping because of a feather are slim to none. It so rarely happens that you shouldn’t be letting that factor in to your purchase.
I know it’s been a while, but I saw this: https://www.diamonds.pro/qa-is-it-possible-to-get-a-7-8-carat-diamond-for-around-1500-2000/ and the article is pretty much spot on with what I’m looking for too. I went through James Allen and saw a this diamond:
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VVS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1453602.asp
I noticed it had strong fluorescence which should make it look a little whiter since it’s a J color, correct? I also saw this one:
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1506978.asp
The clarity is a little less than the first with a feather (though I couldn’t even find it under the loupe) and a medium blue fluorescence, but $200 less. So would the second one be a better buy? Thanks again for your help!
I would ask JA to have their gemologist inspect the strong blue diamond. I don’t like that J SI1, and would get this one instead:
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-SI2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1505975.asp
I got the report back from the gemologist regarding the .72 ct J-VVS1 and he said that the diamond was in no way negatively affected by the fluorescence, so I went ahead and purchased it… now for the hard part, waiting for the ring to arrive! Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it!
Sounds great. Let me know how it looks when it arrives
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. James Allen will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free International Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisals
- One free resizing within 60 days of purchase
- Free ring inscriptions
- Best-in-class high quality imagery of all diamonds in stock
- 24/7 Customer Service
- Best-in-class packaging
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. Blue Nile will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisal
- One free resizing within the first year of purchase
- High quality images of about half of their diamonds
- 24/7 Customer Service
- 100% credit towards future upgrades (must be at least double in value)
- Best in class fulfillment
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