What To Know About FL Clarity Diamonds

What Is FL Clarity Grade?

The GIA clarity grades are used to rate how “included” a diamond is, a measure of how many imperfections exist inside the diamond and blemishes on the surface of the stone. The highest clarity grade is FL which stands for Flawless. Flawless diamonds are so clear of inclusions, that even a skilled diamond grader cannot find them using 10x magnification. Flawless diamonds are so rare that most jewelers have never come across one of these diamonds. Due to their rarity, flawless diamonds command significantly higher price tags than lower clarity grades.

Is FL Clarity Worth It?

There are many types of imperfections and blemishes that can affect the clarity grade of a diamond, and some are less desirable than others. Flawless diamonds have absolutely no visible inclusions or blemishes, even when viewed through a 10x microscope lens. While it’s nice to think of your diamond as being “perfect”, the price associated with these diamonds is prohibitively high. Your money is better spent getting a bigger diamond than upgrading to such an incredibly high clarity grade as flawless. StoneAlgo typically recommends you target a VS2 clarity diamond to begin with, and make sure that you view images and videos of any diamond you plan on purchasing. Even if an online jeweler does not have images of a diamond listed on their site, you can contact their customer service to request that images and videos be e-mailed to you for evaluation.

Should I Focus On Color or Clarity?

Diamond buying is all about making small tradeoffs to maximize the criteria you care most about, whether that means getting the largest diamond or the highest quality stone (or somewhere in between) is a matter of preference that every buyer must determine. One thing you should know before you begin investigating tradeoffs is that going one grade lower in clarity will save you less than going one grade lower in color. It’s also important to consider that above a certain point, no one will be able to see the difference between a perfect diamond and a very good diamond unless they have a magnifying glass or a diamond of significantly higher quality to compare it to. We typically recommend you begin your search at I color, VS2 clarity and always see what the diamond market looks like for better or worse colors and clarities while requesting videos and images of every diamond you are interested in buying.