Diamonds - Beyond The 4 C's - Cloudy

Diamonds Index

Diamond or Cubic Zirconia?

Cloudiness Causes Lack of Brilliance
The usual 4C's approach to diamond quality often stresses the negative aspects rather than the positive ones. Consumers who have gained a little knowledge pose the greatest danger to themselves because they may insist on using a 10x loupe (magnifying glass), and fail to find any inclusions, so assume that they are looking a high quality diamond. They may fail to take a distant or normal look at the stone. One of the best ways of appraising diamonds for quality is to compare a number of stones directly against each other.
The whole point about diamonds is that they should look bright and sparkly when viewed normally, i.e. without any magnification. If a stone fails to look dazzling, then it may be worthwhile to take a close look to discover why it fails to sparkle.

Microscopic Inclusions
Some diamonds possess a large number of microscopic or vary small inclusions, which may not be visible with the naked eye, or even under 10x magnification. Despite this, the inclusions may be so numerous that the brilliance of the diamond is impaired so much that the stone appears to be almost lifeless. When we try to show this to people, many cannot see it for themselves, but can see the difference when comparing the stone with one of normal brilliance.

Fog and Rain
One example we have frequently used is comparing rain with fog.
In heavy rain, it is possible to clearly see the individual droplets of water, yet visibility might be several hundred metres. In fog, the water droplets are so fine that they cannot individually be seen, yet visibility might be down to a few metres. A large number of tiny water droplets in fog have a greater effect on the light passing through them than a smaller number of larger and more easily discerned droplets. So it can be with inclusions in diamonds.

A Practical Example

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