Are Diamonds Really Rare?

When you walk into a jewelry store and see 

all the diamonds in all of the various settings 

that are for sale, it is difficult to realize that 

diamonds are indeed rare. Most people 

don’t even stop to consider how that 

diamond came to be sitting in that jeweler’s 

case! There is quite a bit of work that is done

before a diamond is ready to sell to the 

general public!

For every one million diamonds that are 

mined, only one will be found that is a quality 

one caret diamond. In order to find a two 

caret diamond, about five million diamonds 

must be mined. More than two hundred tons 

of ore must be mined to find one small 

diamond, and even then, more than 80% 

of the diamonds that are mined are only 

good for industrial use, such as diamond 

drill bits.

So, the next time you visit your local jewelry 

store, ask to see the one carat diamonds. 

You should look at this diamond with new 

appreciation – knowing that it truly is one 

in a million!

All About the Clarity of Diamonds

Clarity is an important aspect of a diamond, 

and it is important to know how to grade the 

clarity of a diamond before you buy one. It is 

actually quite easy to learn how to grade the 

clarity of a diamond. There are basically two 

things that you must understand: Diamonds 

with visual inclusions and blemishes, and 

those that are ‘eye clean’ meaning that there 

are no inclusions or blemishes that can be 

seen with the naked eye. From there, the 

clarity of a diamond is further broken down 

into subcategories. 

Many people mistakenly think that diamond 

clarity refers to how clear it is. This isn’t so. 

Clarity actually refers to the internal and 

external imperfections of the diamond. The 

best diamonds, of course get a grade of FL 

or IF – Flawless or Internally Flawless – 

meaning that it is perfect. A grade of I-1, I-2 

or I-3 means that the diamond is imperfect, 

with a grade of I-3 being the worst.

Other grades are VVS1 and VVS2, which 

means that the diamond is very, very slightly 

imperfect; VS1 and VS2, meaning the 

diamond is very slightly imperfect; SI-1 and 

SI-2, which means that the diamond is 

slightly imperfect.