What Are VVS Diamonds?

Posted By: American Coins & Gold on March 20th, 2018

 

 

What Does ‘VVS Diamonds’ Stand For?

 

VVS Diamonds stands for “Very, Very Slightly Included” which refers to the amount of inclusions within the diamond itself. To understand what that means you first need to understand what inclusions are and how they impact the grading of a specific diamond. As diamonds are form other solid crystal structures, gases, and liquids can get trapped inside the diamond mineral. These imperfections are regarded as “inclusions” and typically can affect the clarity, visibility, and structure of the diamond.

 

A diamond with many inclusions may appear to be cloudy, have small cracks, or not appear as clear as a VVS diamond. VVS’s are commonly known for there value since there are only 2 types of diamonds of higher clarity, which are labeled as “Internally Flawless” and “Flawless. VVS Diamonds appear perfect to the human eye and even under 10x magnification are tough to spot inclusions. Internally flawless diamonds show no inclusions at all under 10x magnification, but may display small blemishes on the surface while flawless diamonds are essentially perfect making them the rarest of them all. Flawless diamonds show no inclusions or blemishes even under intense magnification with a trained eye.

 

The 4 C’s of Diamond Grading

 

The 4 C’s of diamond grading have been established to evaluate diamonds on 4 main variables to grant the diamond a single grade which include:

 

CLARITY

VVS diamonds refer to the CLARITY variable of the 4 C’s. All of the different factors combine to create the price & demand of each specific diamond. VVS diamonds are widely popular and demanded because of there extreme clarity which drives the price up significantly even though imperfections in lower quality diamonds are still microscopic.

 

CARAT

The carat of a diamond refers to its total overall mass, AKA its overall weight. This is contrary to the incorrect belief that diamond CARAT actually refers to the size of the diamond.

 

CUT

The CUT of a diamond is often referred to as the most important since it impacts the diamond’s ability to stand out. The way a diamond is cut has the ability to refract light and give diamond’s their famous sparkle which is sought after in high end diamond jewelry.

 

COLOR

Lastly, the final important quality of diamond grading is the COLOR of the diamond itself. This actually refers to the absence of color in the diamond as opposed to the amount of color. Diamonds come in a variety of different colors including red, orange, yellow, blue, pink, red, and black. The less color the diamond has the higher its grade it will be assigned.

 

VVS Diamonds vs. Synthetic / Lab Grown Diamonds

 

Over the years synthetic diamond technology has continued to improve which makes it increasingly more difficult to distinguish between real and fake, especially to the untrained eye. Synthetic diamonds offer a great opportunity for people who love the diamond look but simply cannot afford the investment at the moment. However, there is a darker side to the synthetic diamond industry which you should be aware of.

 

 

As you can see above, to the untrained eye it is basically impossible to distinguish a lab grown diamond from one which is Earth mined. Synthetic diamonds are often too perfect and don’t display any inclusions at all. The tiny inclusions and blemishes that are barely visible in VVS diamonds actually help during the appraisal process because they prove the diamond actually came from the Earth.

 

Your best bet whenever selling your diamonds or buying new diamonds is to consult with

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