Clarity Comparison Of Oval Diamonds VS vs SI

Here is a comparison of two oval diamonds; one has a clarity grade of VS2 while the other has a grade of SI2. Many shoppers would shy away from SI2 clarity because they fear that some imperfections will be visible to the naked eye or that it may lack brilliance. While this may be true in many SI2 clarity diamonds on the market, at Lauren B we hand select the best ones that have transparent inclusions and do not cause the stone to have a milky/hazy appearance.
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SI2 clarity (slightly included) is the lowest clarity grade we will offer to our clients. In some circumstances finding the right one will offer you a beautiful diamond at a lower price point than something of VS or higher clarity. What makes an eye clean SI2 diamond attractive is that you can pass those savings along to yourself or put that money towards a higher color grade or larger carat weigh, both of which are easier for your eye to pick up on.

Keep in mind all SI2 clarity diamonds will appear different based on their inclusion pattern so they need to be inspected carefully. Many have obvious imperfections and inclusions that can be seen by the untrained eye, however others will contain inclusions that are transparent or positioned where they are undetectable unless under high magnification. Another factor to consider is the luster of the diamond, and there are SI2’s that are so heavily included (usually by clouds) that they lose their transparency and will appear hazy.

In general, we find that oval, pear, radiant, and round cut diamonds hide imperfections really well because the brilliant faceting of the diamond will mask many imperfection