Clarity grades are based on the number, location and size & color of inclusions in a stone. Inclusions or imperfections naturally grow in stones and often are identifiers of a certain stone. It’s important to note that when stones are graded for their clarity by GIA, they are graded under a 10x magnification not with a naked eye. Stones without inclusions are very rare so we work to select stones where the imperfections are not noticeable to the naked eye and when set in the piece’s setting. In your day-to-day life, it’s the naked eye that’s important…not a magnify glass! When we’re judging clarity, It’s important that we bring the stones into our shop, to take a look before we show a client. You can’t see everything from a GIA report. Clarity might be less important in an excellent cut round brilliant but is always most important in a step cut emerald shape.
