Back in 2008 I wrote a post that included some info on diamond clarity, with a line on colour, so I've included it below.
Driver8 wrote:
I know a little bit about diamonds (I just don't wear them myself as I'm not a Premiership footballer!! ) -
Blemishes in a diamond are known as Inclusions, and so clarity is measured as follows -
Flawless - FL
Internally Flawless - IF
Very Very Slightly Included - VVS (grades 1 and 2)
Very Slightly Included - VS (grade 1 and 2)
Slightly Included - SI (grades 1 and 2)
Included - I (grades 1, 2 and 3)
The less inclusions you have the better.
Basically, FL means no blemishes at all under x10 magnification. IF means only small blemishes on the diamond surface when viewed under x10 magnification, and so on. Generally speaking VS2 is the first level where blemishes may be visible to the naked eye if you are a trained individual.
Diamond colour typically ranges from D to Z with D being totally colourless and z being light yellow.
Blemishes in a diamond are known as Inclusions, and so clarity is measured as follows -
Flawless - FL
Internally Flawless - IF
Very Very Slightly Included - VVS (grades 1 and 2)
Very Slightly Included - VS (grade 1 and 2)
Slightly Included - SI (grades 1 and 2)
Included - I (grades 1, 2 and 3)
The less inclusions you have the better.
Basically, FL means no blemishes at all under x10 magnification. IF means only small blemishes on the diamond surface when viewed under x10 magnification, and so on. Generally speaking VS2 is the first level where blemishes may be visible to the naked eye if you are a trained individual.
Diamond colour typically ranges from D to Z with D being totally colourless and z being light yellow.
With diamonds you really do get what you pay for. The more colourless and the less inclusions there are, the more the price ramps up. Aside from this, the biggest problems with aftermarket diamond bezels is the quality of the settings. No-one (and I mean no-one) can match the quality of a factory setting, because most of the time they need to cut into the factory bezel to fit the diamonds. On the factory ones the bezle is designed from the outset to accept diamonds. At the end of the day Breitling OEM diamodn bezels are superb (if you like rocks of course) but you pay through the nose for them - far more in fact than they are actually worth in terms of the diamonds themselves. However, as you simply cannot get an aftermarket one to look as perfect, you either have to pay for that perfection or you go the aftermarket route and get something that isn't as perfect.
Personally anything less than perfection would bother me, so in that respect I'm pleased that I have no desire for a diamond encrusted watch or else I'd be paying OEM prices!
