How Fine a clarity do I need in a diamond to be eye clean??

Today I had a client come in that was looking for a nice diamond. He wanted a diamond that would be a nice color and fine enough clarity that he would not see any internal inclusions within the diamond. He then proceeded to ask me if I had any diamonds that were either Flawless or VVS1 in clarity because someone in another store told them that sometimes you may see inclusions, with the naked eye, without magnification, in a diamond that has been independently certified as VVS2.

So what does this mean to you? VVS1 or VVS2 means very very slightly included, and this is further broken down into 2 catagories, 1 or 2. I know that these acronyms, like VVS, sound strange, but they are very explicit in their description of a diamond. These inclusions are generally so tiny that even magnified 10x, it may difficult for a trained eye to locate, so how is it possible for the un-aided, un-trained eye, to see these inclusions? Plain and Simple, it is not possible. The information that was given out was just wrong.

Here is a breakdown of the GIA scale that all diamond dealers follow world wide

In my experience, depending upon the size of the diamond that you're viewing, most people will say that even down to SI1 or SI2, the diamond will be "eye clean". Now it's up to you to decide what you are happy and content with when it comes to your diamond.

I hope this clears that up for all of you that are searching for diamonds.
Congratulations, you just passed your first class in Diamonds 101!