Category: Others

Diamond Clarity shows the inside inclusions and outside surface marks of a stone. Every diamond has its own unique features formed during growth. If you often read diamond certificates, you will notice different internal and external flaws. Based on the GIA grading system, we explain all clarity features clearly. We divide them into two main parts: internal characteristics and external characteristics.

Internal Characteristics, also called Inclusions

These are flaws inside the diamond.

• Crystal: Tiny mineral crystals inside the stone. They look like dots or thin lines, black or white. Black crystals are more easy to see, and hurt clarity grade more.
• Feather: Internal cracks that look like feathers. Do not ignore its position. If the feather reach the surface, especially the girdle, hit may make crack bigger or even break the diamond. Small inner feathers are less risky.
• Cloud: Made of countless tiny dots. It looks like fog inside the diamond. Thick and large cloud will turn the stone hazy, people call it milk diamond. It greatly cut down shine and value.
• Pinpoint: Super small white dots. It is the mildest inclusion. Single pinpoint can not be seen by naked eyes. Many pinpoints together will form a cloud.
• Needle: Long and thin white crystal inside. It rarely affect clarity, unless it is too long or too many.
• Twinning Wisp: Lines or nets mixed with dots, clouds and crystals. It often appear in lab-grown diamonds. It is a weak structure. GIA report use red lines to mark it.
• Internal Graining: Irregular lines from crystal growth. Experts need magnifier to see it. Serious graining will reduce transparency.
• Cavity: Holes on the surface. It easily collect dirt and make the diamond less durable.
• Indented Natural: Slight dents of original diamond surface near the girdle. It is natural feature, not damage. It hardly affect looks.
• Knot: Crystal stretch to the surface. It is both internal and external flaw, and may weaken the stone.
• Bearding: Tiny feather cracks around the girdle. Light bearding can be fixed by re-polishing. Heavy ones ruin look and durability.
• Laser Drill Hole: Small holes made by laser to remove dark inclusions. This is a treatment. The hole is tiny and invisible to naked eyes. GIA will mark it on report.
• Chip: Shallow breaks on edges. It is damage, easy to catch dust and reduce sturdiness.

External Characteristics, also called Blemishes

These are surface flaws. Most of them can be removed by re-polishing.

• Natural: Original diamond surface near girdle. It is not a flaw, just natural mark.
• Abrasion: Small wear marks on edges from friction. Easy to fix with polish.
• Polish Lines: Fine parallel lines left during polishing. Good polish lines only show under 10x magnifier.
• Scratch: Thin lines on surface. Can be polished away.
• Pit: Tiny small holes on surface. It has little influence on clarity.
• Nick: Mini gaps on facet edges. Simple polish can fix it.
• Extra Facet: Extra cutting surface near girdle. It will not affect shine, only symmetry grade.

Clarity grade judge features under 10x magnifier, not the number of flaws. Our goal is to pick eye-clean diamonds.

First of all, stay away from milk diamonds and big cracks. Watch out for thick Cloud. Check if Feather run to the surface. Always trust official certificates like GIA or IGI. Their clarity diagrams tell you every flaw’s type and place.

For good value, VS1 and VS2 are great choose. Most inclusions can not be seen by eyes. Many SI1 diamonds are also eye-clean, you need to check carefully.

Seeing the real diamond is always best. Turn the stone under light. If it looks bright, clear and no dark spots or foggy look, it is a good diamond for you.

Pinpoints are tiny white crystal inclusions inside diamonds. They form when the diamond traps small mineral crystals or tiny empty spaces during its growth. Common trapped minerals include other diamond crystals and garnets. When viewed under a 10x magnifying lens, these features look like tiny white dots, just like the tip of a needle. As the name suggests, they are dot-like inclusions.

Pinpoint is one of the most common inclusions found in diamonds. Diamonds of nearly all clarity grades may contain pinpoints. They are also among the mildest inclusions you can find. A single pinpoint barely affects a diamond’s look or value. Buyers do not need to worry too much about this feature. When shopping for diamonds, you should pay more attention to the overall clarity grade and whether the stone is transparent and brilliant.

How Do Pinpoints Affect Diamonds?

The impact of pinpoints depends entirely on their quantity, size and position inside the diamond.

Single small pinpoint

It has almost no negative effects. A lone tiny pinpoint is hard to spot even with a 10x magnifier.

In terms of clarity grade, a single pinpoint may drop a diamond from IF (Internally Flawless) to VVS1 or VVS2 (Very Very Slightly Included). These are still top-tier clarity levels.

To the naked eye, this kind of pinpoint is completely invisible. It will never ruin the diamond’s beauty or sparkle.

Clustered pinpoints

When three or more pinpoints gather closely together, they form another type of inclusion called a cloud. The area looks hazy and foggy.

If a cloud covers a large area and is very dense, the diamond will turn cloudy. People call this kind of stone a milky diamond. It will greatly reduce the diamond’s brightness and market value, so you need to watch out for this problem.

In most cases though, small clouds do not change the diamond’s appearance at all.

On the clarity plot of a GIA diamond report, pinpoints are marked with small red dots. Red marks stand for internal characteristics. If there are too many pinpoints to draw one by one, the report will add a note that says “Pinpoints are not shown”. This note means the diamond has a large number of tiny pinpoints. Gemologists will make a full evaluation of their total influence on clarity.

For most diamonds, pinpoints are harmless inclusions. One or several small pinpoints will not damage the diamond’s durability, nor will they affect its beauty during daily wear.

Even though pinpoints themselves are safe, you still need to check if they cluster into big clouds from the clarity diagram. If the report notes “Clouds are not shown”, you should ask the seller to check and make sure the diamond has no milky haze.

GIA clarity grading has already taken the influence of pinpoints into consideration. If a diamond is graded SI1 or higher, including FL, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2 and SI1, its pinpoints are almost impossible to see with naked eyes. If you can, it is always better to check the diamond in person.

Turn the diamond under light. If it looks clear, bright and free of foggy texture, you have no reason to worry about existing pinpoints.

Cloud is a very common yet special type of clarity inclusion inside diamonds. It may barely change a diamond’s look, or it can cause serious problems. So you need to learn about it carefully before buying.

What is a Cloud?

A cloud is not a single dot inclusion. It forms when countless tiny pinpoints gather together. These tiny spots are packed so closely that they look like a hazy mist under a 10x magnifying glass. That is why people name this kind of inclusion “cloud”.

In appearance, a cloud usually shows as a pale grey blurry area with no clear edges. It looks just like a soft fog trapped inside the diamond.

How Clouds Affect Diamonds

The influence of clouds varies a lot. It all depends on their density, size and position inside the stone.

Mild impact (Most common cases)

If a cloud is made of widely spaced tiny pinpoints and covers only a small area, it will not hurt the diamond’s clarity grade or outer look.

It may just make a small part of the stone a little less transparent under magnification. You cannot see it with your naked eye at all. It will not reduce the diamond’s fire and brightness. Such clouds often appear in diamonds graded VS or SI clarity.

Severe impact: Milky diamond

This is the most risky situation you must watch out for.

When a cloud is extremely large and dense, spreading across most parts of the diamond, it creates a milky haze effect. In the trade, we call such stones milky diamonds.

A milky diamond looks foggy all over, as if covered by a thin white mist. Its transparency and shine drop sharply. The stone turns dull and lifeless. It loses sparkle and fire completely.

Milky diamonds never worth their certified clarity grade. For example, a VS2 diamond with heavy cloud may look even worse than a clean I1 diamond. This is a big trap for buyers, and you should try your best to avoid it.

How to Identify Clouds on GIA Reports

A GIA diamond report is the best tool to check cloud risks.

For diamonds over 1 carat, the report includes a detailed clarity plot. On this diagram, large cloud areas are circled with red dash lines. Red marks stand for internal inclusions, and the label next to it will clearly write “Cloud”.

You should pay extra attention to the comments section on the report. This part tells you whether the diamond is likely to turn milky.

If you read notes like Clouds are not shown or Pinpoints are not shown, you need to stay alert. This means there are too many clouds or pinpoints to mark one by one on the plot. In this case, the risk of getting a milky diamond becomes very high.

Practical Tips for Buyers

Do not worry too much about clouds. Most diamonds with cloud inclusions are fine to purchase, especially those graded VS or higher clarity.

Learn to read professional diamond certificates. Always pick diamonds with official reports from GIA, IGI or HRD. When you get the report, check two key parts first.

Look at the clarity plot to see if the cloud covers a large space. Then read the comments line by line. If you find Clouds are not shown or similar words, think twice before you pay.

Choosing a trustworthy seller is also important. Reputable dealers will filter out milky diamonds in advance. You can ask the seller directly whether the stone is free of milky, brown and green tint. It is better to put this promise in writing on your guarantee document.

If possible, check the real diamond in person. Turn the stone under natural light and watch its performance. A good diamond stays clear and sparkly all the time. If it always looks foggy and never shines bright, it definitely has milky issues. For online shopping, ask the seller to send real shooting videos of the diamond.

To sum up, cloud is a clustered inclusion seen in many diamonds. Sparse clouds do no harm, but large and thick clouds are the main cause of milky diamonds, which ruin shine and value. Read GIA clarity plots and comments carefully, and shop with reliable merchants. In this way, you can successfully stay away from problematic milky diamonds.

Twinning Wisp is a standard term used on diamond grading reports, such as GIA certificates. It is a common natural growth feature inside diamonds, and it is also classified as one type of inclusion. Many people regard it as a regular diamond flaw. To help you fully understand twinning wisp, we will explain this feature in simple points below.

First, let’s talk about how twinning wisp form. Diamonds grow deep underground under extreme high temperature and high pressure. Their crystal structure cannot always grow in a perfect and continuous way. Sometimes the growth direction of crystal lattice will change suddenly, and then a twin crystal structure comes into being. Tiny impurities and other crystal defects may get trapped on the surface of this special structure. When these small substances connect together into lines or patches, a twinning wisp is created inside the diamond.

Next is the appearance of twinning wisp. When you look at it under a magnifying glass, you will see lines in white, off-white or transparent color. These lines can be straight, curved or even form a net shape. It never looks like a single small dot. Instead, it shows as thin lines or flat areas inside the stone.

Many buyers wonder: how does twinning wisp affect a diamond? We analyze the influences from three different parts.

The first part is the impact on clarity grade. Top grading labs like GIA clearly mark twinning wisp as an internal inclusion. Professional graders will check its size, quantity, visibility and position carefully. All these factors decide how much it affects the diamond’s final clarity grade. A small and faint twinning wisp will not cause big trouble for high clarity grades, such as VVS and VS. But if the lines are very obvious, or many wisps cross each other inside, the clarity grade will drop down to SI or even I level.

The second part is about durability risk, and this is the most important point you need to know. A twinning wisp is actually a weak zone in the diamond’s structure. If the wisp runs all the way to the girdle or the outer surface of the diamond, the stone will be much easier to crack along this weak line. The risk is higher during daily wearing or diamond setting work. Even professional diamond cutters face big trouble with twinning wisp. The stone is easy to split along the weak structure when cutting and polishing.

The third part is visual effect. In most cases, twinning wisp cannot be seen by naked eyes. You can only find them clearly under a 10x magnifier. Only in very rare cases, when twinning wisps are extremely dense inside, the diamond will look a little hazy. Just like milky diamonds, dense twinning wisps will reduce the stone’s transparency and fire.

Now let us learn how twinning wisp is shown on a GIA certificate. On the clarity plot diagram of GIA report, twinning wisps are marked with red lines or red areas. Red color stands for internal features on standard grading drawings. The words “Twinning Wisp” will also be written in the notes section beside the diagram.

Here are some useful tips for all diamond customers:

Do not feel too worried about twinning wisp. It is a very common growth feature, and lots of natural diamonds have this inclusion. The key is to check the actual condition of the wisp, not just hear the name.

Learn to read your GIA certificate properly. You can trust the official clarity grade first. If the grade is SI1 or above, including VVS, VS and SI1, normally all inclusions like twinning wisp are invisible to naked eyes. They will not ruin the diamond’s beauty.

Checking the clarity plot is another key step. After you get the certificate, take time to look at the drawing carefully. If the red lines which mark twinning wisp reach the diamond’s edge or girdle, you must pay close attention to the durability risk. You can ask trusted sellers for more details about this stone.

Always choose shops with good reputation. Reliable jewelry sellers will pick out diamonds with serious structural risks in advance. They will also explain all internal features and possible influences to you honestly.

Do not reject a diamond just because it has twinning wisp. You need to judge a stone in all aspects. Cut is the most important factor for diamond sparkle, followed by color, carat weight and overall cost performance. A diamond with tiny twinning wisp but Excellent cut will shine much brighter than a totally clean diamond with poor cut quality.

To make a simple summary. Twinning wisp is a natural growth mark of diamonds. As a kind of inclusion, it will influence clarity grading. The biggest concern is whether the wisp locates near the edge, which may bring crack risks. You can judge the situation easily by reading the clarity plot on GIA certificate. With professional grading reports and trustworthy sellers, you can definitely pick out diamonds that are safe, beautiful and great value for money.

What exactly is Hearts and Arrows? Hearts and Arrows is a special optical effect that appears on round brilliant cut diamonds. You cannot see it with your naked eyes. A professional tool is needed to view this pattern clearly.

When you look from the bottom of the diamond, which is called the pavilion, you can see eight arrow shapes. These arrows line up in perfect symmetry. If you turn the diamond over and look down from the top table, you will see eight neat heart shapes. People use a special magnifier, named hearts and arrows scope, to watch this unique view. Normal glasses or magnifiers cannot show the full pattern well.

Many buyers have a common question. Is a Hearts and Arrows diamond always a high-quality one? The answer is no. This effect alone cannot prove the overall quality of a diamond. It only tells you that the diamond has great symmetry.

The value of a diamond is judged by the world famous 4C standard. They are Carat weight, Color, Clarity and Cut. A diamond can have perfect Hearts and Arrows pattern, but its proportions may be very bad. For example, if the pavilion is too deep or too shallow, light will leak out from the sides or bottom. In this case, the diamond will look dull and dark. Such stones are never top grade.

Hearts and Arrows only connect with Symmetry in diamond cut. To form clear hearts and arrows, the cutting angles, sizes and symmetry must be extremely accurate. For this reason, most diamonds with this effect get high symmetry grades, such as Very Good or Excellent.

Even so, it cannot stand for other key parts of diamond cutting. The first one is Proportions. It includes table size, crown angle, pavilion depth and more. These details directly affect three important features: Brilliance, Fire and Scintillation. A diamond with perfect symmetry but poor proportions will never shine brightly. The second part is Polish. It means how smooth the diamond surface is.

Here is an important knowlege for all buyers. A diamond with Excellent Cut grade already owns top-level symmetry and polish. Most of them can show clear Hearts and Arrows. But the rule does not work the other way around. A diamond marked with Hearts and Arrows may not get an overall Excellent Cut grade. Having hearts and arrows is a possible result of Excellent cut, not a must.

Now let’s talk about shopping tips. Should you pay extra money just for Hearts and Arrows?

Do not chase this concept blindly. Many jewelry sellers use it as a marketing trick to rise prices. You should focus more on the official report from famous labs like GIA. Always check the full 4C grades on the certificate first.

Put Cut grade on your top list when you choose diamonds. If you have enough budget and want the best shine and fire, pick diamonds with GIA Excellent Cut. Almost all of them present beautiful Hearts and Arrows, and their light performance is the best you can get.

Diamonds with Very Good Cut have better cost performance. They may also show hearts and arrows, but their shine will be a little weaker than Excellent ones.

You can treat Hearts and Arrows as a nice romantic extra. It carries a lovely meaning: wholehearted love and forever romance. It is a wonderful symbol for couples. As long as you do not pay unreasonable extra cost for it, it is a nice plus point.

All in all

Hearts and Arrows is just an optical phenomenon. It only reflects good symmetry of a diamond. It is a bonus, not a necessary standard. You should not make your final choice only based on this feature.

GIA Excellent Cut is the highest rating for overall cutting quality. It covers proportions, symmetry and polish all together. It makes sure the diamond has the best brilliance and fire. Cut is the most important factor that decides how beautiful a diamond looks. You need to take it as your first choice.

Bottom Line

Here is the final suggestion for you. Within your budget, choose diamonds with GIA certificate and Excellent Cut grade first. In this way, you will get a high-quality diamond with amazing shine. It will most likely have perfect Hearts and Arrows as well. This is the smart way to buy a diamond.

You may run into problems when selecting diamonds. Welcome to contact us, and our team will provide you with professional and reliable advice.

The bowtie effect refers to a dark shadow area that looks like a bow tie on the table of fancy cut diamonds. It can be seen on many irregular shaped diamonds, such as oval diamonds, heart diamonds and pear shape diamonds. This bowtie shadow usually stretches across the middle part of the stone, splitting the diamond into two halves visually.

This is basically an optical phenomenon. It happens because light cannot reflect and refract properly inside the diamond. It is not caused by inclusions or impurities inside the diamond itself. The bowtie effect is quite common and matters a lot when you pick fancy shaped diamonds, so you need to pay extra attention to it during selection.

What causes the bowtie effect?

The main reason for the bowtie effect is improper diamond cutting proportions.

First of all, about light leakage. Under ideal conditions, light enters from the top of a diamond. It bounces several times inside the stone and finally refracts back out from the top. This process creates the brilliant sparkle that diamonds are famous for.

Secondly, poor cutting quality will lead to problems. If a diamond is cut too shallow or too deep, or its pavilion angle is not correct, light cannot reflect effectively inside. When light escapes from the sides or the bottom of the diamond, a dark area with no returning light will form right away.

Thirdly, the shape of the diamond also plays a part. Diamonds like oval, pear and marquise have a large length to width ratio. Their elongated shape makes light loss more likely in the center area, which then forms a clear bowtie shadow.

Which diamond shapes are most likely to have the bowtie effect?

The bowtie effect appears most frequently on elongated fancy cut diamonds. The most typical ones are oval cut, pear cut and marquise cut diamonds. It also shows up on radiant cut diamonds quite often.

Sometimes you can also find this shadow on cushion cut and emerald cut diamonds, but the bowtie here is usually not obvious. Thanks to its perfect symmetry, round brilliant cut diamonds almost never have the bowtie effect.

Can we completely avoid the bowtie effect?

Nearly all elongated fancy shaped diamonds have the bowtie effect to some degree, and it is almost impossible to get one with no bowtie at all. So our goal is not to hunt for a totally bowtie-free diamond. Instead, we should choose a stone where the bowtie is faint and not noticeable at all.

How to judge and choose diamonds with the bowtie effect

Seeing the diamond in person is the most important step. Pictures and diamond certificates can not fully show the real look of the bowtie effect. You have to watch real videos or check the physical diamond, and view it from different angles under various lighting conditions.

You also need to tell the severity of the bowtie. A slight bowtie only has a very pale grey shadow. It will not ruin the beauty and sparkle of the diamond, and this kind is totally acceptable.

If the bowtie is obvious, you can see a clear dark grey or black shadow right in the center. It looks like a thick black bowtie across the stone, which greatly damages the appearance and value of the diamond. You should stay away from diamonds like this.

A severe bowtie means there is a huge, deep black area on the diamond. The stone looks flawed and dull. Such diamonds must never be chosen.

It is wise to buy diamonds from reliable sellers. Well-known online jewelry retailers can provide 360-degree high-definition videos of each diamond. These videos let you check the bowtie condition clearly, so remember to watch them carefully before you make a purchase.

Professional cutting also helps a lot. Experienced diamond cutters will adjust the proportions, symmetry and facet angles to reduce the bowtie effect as much as they can. Choosing diamonds with Excellent or Very Good cut grades is a good way to avoid strong bowtie shadows.

When you check a diamond, rotate it and observe from different sides. If the dark shadow stays prominent from most views, you’d better keep looking for other options. Keep searching until you find a nice diamond where the bowtie is barely visible.We can also help you pick diamonds with mild bowtie effect on Blue Nile. Feel free to contact us via the form below.