If you are buying a diamond for the first time, you may find assessing its clarity and cut to be highly challenging. While they may not be visible to untrained eyes, these negligible marks can have a remarkable impact on the optical performance, structural integrity, and value of the diamond. Let’s go through these diamonds buying guide to find out whether the inclusions you find in your choicest lab-grown diamonds add interest to it or diminish the value of the stone.
What does it mean by inclusions in diamonds?
When shopping for lab diamonds, clarity is a term that you will come across almost everywhere, particularly from expert gemologists. While most of us remain occupied with the cut and carat of a diamond, the clarity of the stone is equally important.
When pulled out of the mines or the specialized chamber in the labs, diamonds tend to manifest some birthmarks that separate them from one another. Some of these marks can be easily visible while others are not. The fewer these marks, the higher the clarity and value of the diamond. Although it is possible for diamonds to not have these marks or inclusions, they are so rare that most gemologists haven’t seen such stones. Although inclusions are regarded as flaws’ some of them cannot be discerned by experts also.
What are the various types of inclusions contained in a diamond?
Depending on the extent, tone, size, and color of the inclusions, they may or may not have a negative impact on the standard of the stone. Let’s consider the various types of inclusions that a gemstone may have as referred to in all diamonds buying guide:
Bearding: It refers to tiny hair-like structures that are formed during the cutting process and run from the girdle to the surface of the stone.
Cavity: This is a deep opening at the surface of the stone and occurs during polishing as an internal inclusion gets dislodged or breached from the stoke and creates an opening on the top.
Chip: A chip is a shallow but tiny opening at the surface of the stone, mostly occurring at the facet, culet, or girdle junction. This type of inclusions is created from wear and tear or due to accidents and therefore, the chip is not a natural phenomenon.
Cloud: This is a broad term referring to all kinds of crystals or pinpoints closely located to each other. Based on where they are found, clouds may bring down the overall value of diamonds.
How do inclusions affect the value of the diamond?
As you go through the diamonds buying guide, you will see that these valuable stones are distinguished from one another by a scale based on the inclusions. The gemstones having the lowest number of inclusions are called Flawless and Internally Flawless whereas those with inclusions visible to the eyes are termed Included.
For grading the clarity of a diamond, experts use a lens equipped with 10X magnification which is the current industry standard. Such a high level of magnification effortlessly shows all the inclusions within the stone. And the ones which can hardly show any such marks are of the highest clarity and value. This means inclusions that can be seen through the naked eye will substantially bring down the value of the diamond.
It’s worth noting here that marks, blemishes, and inclusions are not always bad’ qualities of any stone. In some cases, they give a unique character to the diamond and help in identifying it from others. Also, when it comes to the cuts known for their sheer brilliance and fire like the round brilliant or princess cuts, the higher number of facets easily conceal the inclusions and all you can see is the magnificent reflection of light.
Final words
Inclusions in diamonds may take any form and stem from various impacts. Right from those that can be seen only by a trained grader under a specialized microscope to slightly visible marks to hefty flaws bringing down the radiance and even the durability of diamonds – inclusions are of several kinds. In general, you should steer clear of diamonds with blemishes that impact transparency and radiance. If you wish to invest in top-class lab diamonds with little inclusions, you can browse through Rare Carat to find your choicest pick at the most reasonable price.