Largest eye clean diamond for $10K
Hi Danny, I’m going to be purchasing a diamond for an e-ring, and setting it in some sort of a solitaire setting. My budget for the diamond is around 10k and from everything I’ve read online, it seems that cut is king if I want to ensure that the diamond I purchase will be bright and exhibit full spectrum sparkle. I’m looking for a super ideal cut round, and want to maximize the carat weight available for my budget, thus I’m thinking H or I color, with SI-1 or SI-2 clarity, as long as it’s eye clean from six inches and in all types of lighting. What suggestions or advice do you have for me? – Kelby J.
The definition of “eye clean” for diamond grading:
Let’s start with the definition of “eye clean” as it is used in reference to the clarity grade of diamonds, because this is probably one of the most misunderstood concepts that exists between the diamond buying public and trade members who grade diamonds for a living…
The industry standard for the distance used to determine whether a diamond is eye clean or not, is between 9 – 12 inches. Thus if a vendor states that a diamond is “eye clean” that statement is based upon their evaluation of the diamond at a distance of 9 – 12 inches, the same diamond may or may not appear to be eye clean when scrutinized at a distance of six inches.
In addition, it is important to take into account that every person has different eye sight, thus a diamond which appears to be “eye clean” to one person, might not appear to be eye clean to another, however the odds are that the person making this claim did not do so lightly and did make a reasonable attempt to locate the inclusions with just their eyes… so the odds are good that the inclusions will at least not be blaringly obvious when the diamond is viewed without magnification.
Finally, diamonds are graded using controlled lighting, which is designed to be conducive to diamond clarity and color grading, it is impossible to predict whether a diamond which is deemed to be “eye clean” when viewed in one lighting scenario, will be eye clean 100% of the time in every possible lighting scenario… if this truly is your expectation, I highly recommend purchasing a diamond of higher clarity than SI-1 or SI-2, especially SI-2 which is apt to contain significantly more inclusions simply because that is part of the basis for this clarity grade.
Reasonable expectations for an eye clean diamond:
In my experience, the diamonds which we indicate as being “eye clean” at Brian Gavin Diamonds, are apt to be eye clean when viewed by most people, in a variety of lighting circumstances, because it is common for us to look at the diamond at our desk, and then walk it across the room to get the opinion of another person in the office who is familiar with diamond grading. Along the way, we’re most likely staring at the diamond as we hold it in tweezers, if for no other reason, that it’s fun to watch the light dance off the facets!
Wait! Just in case Brian Gavin reads this blog post, the scenario which I just described absolutely never happens… All right, we sit at our desk, examining the diamond from a top down perspective, to determine whether we can locate the inclusions with just our eyes, and if we’re not able to, we pick up the phone and call the extension of another person in the office who is a trained diamond grader, and ask them to come to our office, wait patiently for them to stop whatever they are doing and walk over to our office, then they sit down at our desk, and examine the diamond, under the controlled light source sitting on our desk. Yes, that is absolutely what happens, and as a result I think that if we deem a diamond to be “eye clean” then you can be reasonably certain that you will not be able to locate the inclusions with just your eyes from a reasonable distance without maybe squinting your eyes, and really scrutinizing the diamond facet-by-facet.
The intent of diamond clarity photographs online:
One concern that people frequently express is whether a diamond is actually going to be eye clean when viewed with just their eyes, when the inclusions seem so readily visible in the clarity photographs which we provide for diamonds online.
Consider the inclusions within are visible within this 1.284 carat, H-color, SI-1 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature round diamond, which are indicated on the plotting diagram that appears in the upper portion of the graphic provided to the left, if you were to try to judge the clarity of this diamond based solely upon the plotting diagram, you might think that the inclusions are going to appear pretty substantial. However they are barely visible in the clarity photograph of the diamond which appears to the left, which was taken using a level of magnification which is substantially higher than the industry standard of 10x, so that we could provide you with a good idea of what the inclusions look like, but on a computer monitor which is nothing like real life, because the diamond is not the size of a tennis ball.
By the way, I think that either this 1.284 carat, H-color, SI-1 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature round diamond or this 1.268 carat, I-color, VS-2 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature round diamond, are excellent options for you to consider, both of them would look amazing in one of our solitaire style engagement rings.
