Diamond Clarity Scale

In the world of fancy color diamonds, clarity is much less important compared to colorless diamonds.
The most important factor is of course, the… color!

That being said, it is still very important to understand the role diamond clarity grading has on achieving the final color during the color enhancement process.

There are 6 categories of diamond purity:

1. FL: Flawless
   No imperfections of any kind are visible under 10x magnification. Such stones are not used in the color enhancement process because they are too expensive and we are able to get accurate color with a lower purity diamond.
   
2. IF: Internally Flawless
   No inclusions can be seen under 10x magnification. Such stones are also too expensive to use in color enhancement procedure.
   
3. VVS1 VVS2: Very Very Slightly Included
   Very difficult for a gemologist to see slight inclusions under 10x magnification. These stones are good for enhancement if the customer wants the diamond to be very clean. There is no point to enhance these diamonds as they are already of such high quality and are very expensive.
   
4.  VS1 VS2: Very Slightly Included
   These clarity grades are the best to use for the enhancement process: the purity doesn't affect the color negatively whatsoever and the price of the original stone is reasonable.
   
5. SI1 SI2 : Slightly Included
   These clarity grades must be checked carefully to avoid having negative influence on the final color. For example, white fractions will be more obvious in blue diamonds than they are in white diamonds.
   
6. I1 I2 I3: Included
   These 3 clarity grades affect the transparency and the brilliancy of the diamonds. The color of the enhanced diamond will not be perfect because of their low purity.
   

SUMMARY:

When it comes to fancy color diamonds and even more in the world of fancy enhanced diamonds, the purity plays a secondary role when determining the value of the stone.

A diamond with a purity of VS1-VS2-SI1 are the best for color enhancements since they don't affect the color or the original price of the stone.