What is a VVS Diamond? (And Is It Worth the Money?)
VVS diamonds are found in the higher tier of the clarity grading scale and are often sold as “top quality” diamonds. Sadly, many consumers fall into the beginner’s trap of buying a VVS diamond because of misconceptions about diamond clarity.
In many cases, uneducated shoppers are misled by salespeople into thinking a higher clarity/color grade automatically translates into better brilliance and sparkle for the diamond. Some unethical jewelers even go as far as to market VVS diamonds as investments and a storage of value.
The truth is far from that.
In this article, I’m going to reveal everything you need to know about VVS diamonds and how you can utilize this knowledge to make better purchase decisions. I will also show you a case study on how to save thousands of dollars by shopping with a practical mindset and tangible data. In order to afford such diamonds, you can try hitting the jackpot on sites such as 아인카지노.
First of All, What Does VVS Mean in Diamonds?
The term VVS is an abbreviation for Very, Very, Slightly Included and can be further broken down into two sub-categories: VVS1 and VVS2. Respectively, they are the 3rd and 4th best rating on the GIA clarity scale.
The VVS clarity rating on GIA’s grading scale.
VVS diamonds have very benign inclusions such as pinpoints, clouds, internal graining or feathers which will never impact the outward appearance of the stone. And if you are wondering what the differences between VVS1 vs VVS2 clarity are, it’s really quite straightforward.
In laymen’s terms, a VVS1 diamond typically has inclusions found on the pavilion side (diamond is flipped over) which are extremely difficult to see under 10x. In comparison, a VVS2 diamond usually has inclusions found on the crown side (face up) which are very difficult to see under 10x.
Check out the follow video listings and compare the differences between a VVS1 and VVS2 diamond. And if you try to locate the inclusions under 10X magnification, you will quickly realize it is not that easy to do so!
To give you some perspective on how clean a VVS diamond is; even a trained grader like myself would have an extremely hard time grading a VVS diamond without the proper tools and lighting conditions. It may take me up anywhere from 10-15 mins of careful examination in order to accurately identify inclusions under magnification.
The bottom line is, you will not be able to see any inclusions or blemishes with an unaided eye. In fact, you are unlikely to find them even if you use a loupe.
Comparison of VVS Diamond Prices Vs Other Clarity Ratings
Diamond value and pricing are determined by a combination of the 4Cs: Cut, Color, Carat & Clarity. I’ve compiled a list of diamonds across different clarity grades to give you an idea of price differences in lower carat ranges.
Click here to view the individual diamonds in more details…
While you can see prices gap up as we move up the clarity scale, this effect is much more prominent at high carat ranges. In terms of absolute value, the difference between a VVS and VS diamond can go up to tens of thousands of dollars.
Click here to view the individual diamonds in more details…
Practical Differences Between VVS And VS – Which is the Worth It Winner?
Depending on the carat size of your purchase, the price difference between a VVS diamond ring and a VS diamond ring can sometimes amount to tens of thousands of dollars. Yet, both diamond rings can look exactly the same to the naked eyes in a side by side comparison.
If there is absolutely no visual differences between a VS2 diamond and a VVS1 diamond, is it worth it to pay a good 40K more (see 3 ct comparison circled in red above) for a purchase? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment at the end of the article.
Very often, consumers get suckered into buying a diamond with high clarity because they don’t know better. Here at Beyond4cs.com, I personally approach engagement ring shopping in a practical manner and I encourage readers to do the same.
Check out these two photographs of a VVS1 diamond ring vs a VS2 diamond ring with the same setting design. On paper, both these rings are many grades apart in clarity and yet, they look equally stunning and eyeclean in reality.
1.486ct G VVS1 vs 1.484ct G VS2 – Cathedral Tapered Design from WhiteFlash.com
When it comes to sparkle and brilliance of a diamond, CUT is the primary attribute you should place priority in. Whether a diamond has extremely high clarity in the VVS grades or VS grades has little bearing on its beauty. If the cut is poor, even a flawless diamond would look lifeless and dull.
As long as a lower clarity grade diamond is eyeclean, that is really what matters at the end of the day. In my opinion, it doesn’t make sense to pay a premium for an attribute that cannot be appreciated in casual viewing.
I would rather buy an eyeclean VS2 diamond and put the cost savings towards tangible aspects like larger carat weight or better cut quality.
Case Study – How You Can Save Thousands of Dollars By Shopping Smart
Many businesses including the big brands like Tiffany or Cartier actively market VVS diamonds as being superior or highly sought after. In fact, many of these jewelers openly bash lower clarity diamonds in order to position themselves to sell you “better quality” goods in their inventory.
As a consumer, you need to understand that marketing is a huge part of the jewelry industry. The fact is, most jewelers only care about increasing their profit margins rather than aligning themselves to the interest of the consumer.
While it is true that VVS diamonds can offer consumers an assurance that clarity will never be an issue, these stones are also priced considerably higher. As a practical shopper, let me tell you that a VVS clarity is overkill for the purpose of getting an eyeclean diamond.
Check out this comparison of an SI1 diamond against a VVS1 diamond. Even though these two stones are 4 clarity grades apart, they will face up identical to each other when viewed in a side-by-side placement.
The fact is, you can pay a lot LESS for a lower clarity diamond with inclusions that you will never see with your naked eye. In fact, you don’t have to restrict yourself to the VS clarity range and can even go down to the SI grades. You just have to be smart about your shopping process and put in a bit of effort into your search.
And don’t worry, it really isn’t that hard and you’ll have tons of fun along the way. All you need to do is to follow the steps in our proven Resize Technique and you will be able to assess diamonds for eyecleanliness like a pro.
Having said that, VS and SI diamonds can offer superb value for money but you need to remember that each diamond has to be assessed individually on its own merit. This is because inclusions are unique to different diamonds.
To illustrate this, here’s a diamond that isn’t eyeclean. Click on the image below to view the listing and I’m sure you can see why. The point I want to make here is that it is super easy to scrutinize diamonds due to the nature of how these online vendors operate.
Videos show full details of what a grading certificate may not reveal!
And contrary to what some people think, buying a diamond online through a reliable vendor is much safer and more transparent due to the availability of listing info and risk-free sales policies.
Plus, going online will ensure you have a larger pool of selections to choose from and be able to browse in peace without annoying salespeople breathing down your neck.
With that said, if you are still not sure or confident about a selection by yourself, feel free to drop me an email for help.
When Would It Make Sense to Purchase a VVS Diamond?
Scenario #1 – You Are Feeling Rich And Simply Have a Strong Personal Preference
As long as you are aware that you don’t need a VVS clarity rating to find an eye-clean diamond, then go ahead if that’s what you still want. Some people are after perfection and enjoy knowing that their stone is practically flawless.
As I had stated previously, a VS or SI diamond would be more affordable than a VVS diamond. However, I also know that everyone has different needs and preferences when it comes to buying an engagement ring.
There are people who are mentally affected by the presence of inclusions and there are also people who specifically want a particular carat size or color grade for symbolic reasons.
If you are fully aware that you are paying a premium for a VVS clarity which doesn’t necessarily translate to a better looking diamond, by all means, go ahead and spend the money.
For VVS diamond shoppers, I recommend that you check out White Flash as they specialize in precision cut diamonds and have a curated collection of high color/clarity diamonds with ideal light performance.
Scenario #2 – Limited Choices When Buying Fancy Shapes or Large Size Diamonds
If you are shopping for fancy shape diamond like an oval or a large 3ct round diamond, you will find significantly less inventory available to choose from. This is due to lower demand for such goods in the market.
After doing your due diligence on cut quality and weeding down to your final list of options, you may sometimes end up only with VVS diamonds just because there are no other good options in the lower clarity ranges.
Under such circumstances, it makes sense to fork out the extra cash to get a VVS diamond ring.
Summary – Let’s Wrap Things Up
In my opinion, VVS diamonds lie in a clarity category that pleases no one. This is because you are paying a huge premium for a very clean diamond and it still doesn’t give you the symbolism of an internally flawless diamond.
And on the other hand, if all you need is a diamond that is eyeclean, a VS1 diamond would aptly do the job (still considered overkill) and save you money in the process.
If you love the idea of a having a “perfect” diamond, by all means go all the way up to the IF/FL clarity grade. Otherwise, I would recommend you avoid the VVS clarity grades and go down to VS or SI grades instead.
I hope this post revealed some useful insights and helped steer you in the right direction. Make sure you check out our step-by-step guide to choosing a well cut diamond if you haven’t yet.
Finally, feel free to leave a comment to leave your thoughts or any questions that you have.
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16 Comments
Thank you for creating this awesome website. It’s so helpful and I’m sure many others feel the same way too. My jeweler has recommended a vvs diamond necklace with an EGL certificate for a surprise birthday present for my wife.
I read that the value of a VVS diamond appreciates over time due to their sheer rarity and perfection. And of course, who won’t want to retain value and also the possibility of selling the vvs necklace in future should we need cash. My jeweler also said that the sparkle and brilliance will not be impeded compared to buying a very slightly included diamond.
First of all, grading labs are not made the same and EGL is notorious for their soft grading standards. They had gotten into lawsuits and shut down because of misrepresentation. In short, the EGL report is a scam and your jeweler is a scumbag who is trying to rip you off.
Let me tell you that diamonds have little resale value and if you buy them for the purpose of investing, you are in for a huge surprise when you decide to offload the jewelry piece.
Now, I recommend you to stick with only GIA or AGS certificates. A VVS diamond necklace is overkill in terms of clarity. Unlike engagement rings, the viewing distances for a necklace is usually much further and you can easily get away with lower clarity ratings like SI1 or VS2.
Can you tell me where to find vvs diamonds for sale? I want to get a cheap and good engagement ring for my girlfriend.
Well, let me tell you that high quality stones NEVER go on sale. If you shop with the mindset of finding discounts or “vvs diamonds for sale”, you will very likely end up getting ripped off by a jeweler. There’s no such thing as “cheap” and “good” in the world of diamonds as it is a zero sum game.
You want the better cut diamonds? You pay for the craftsmanship. You want a diamond that is accurately graded? You pay for the GIA/AGS grading report.
If you still hold the same mindset after reading this, you deserve to get ripped off by your greed and unrealistic expectations of buying an engagement ring.
Compared to a vvs diamond ring, is a fl diamond ring a better investment and purchase? I came across 2 such jewelry pieces and the cost for them are just 10% apart.
Get this, if you are buying a flawless diamond or a VVS diamond for the sake of watching your money grow, you are making a huge mistake in doing so. Diamonds are bad investment vehicles and you are far better off taking that money into a casino where you have a better chance of making money via gambling.
That said, a 10% difference isn’t a big sum of money in absolute sense. If going with a flawless diamond makes you feel better, go for it. The caveat here is that there are likely other factors involved that you need to beware of especially in cut quality. My guess is that you are making a surface level comparison and missing out on finer details.
I came across a pair of vvs diamond earrings for men which is listed on eBay for $180. The main stone creation is stated as lab-created and it has a total carat weight of 1.80ct. Seems like a pretty great deal to me and I am thinking of getting it for my boyfriend. And oh, the metal is 925 silver. Does it matter if it isn’t white gold?
This ebay seller is running a scam. Let me tell you that a pair of vvs diamond stud earrings will not cost $180 even if the stones were synthetic. You will never find diamonds at these carat sizes for less than $200 and you end up with a misrepresented product (my suspicion is that it is made of CZ instead of diamond). DO NOT BUY THE EARRINGS EXPECTING THAT YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU THINK IS STATED.
As for your 2nd question, 925 silver is pretty soft and may tarnish over time. If you want a pair of long lasting jewelry, get one from a proper vendor. Lastly, there’s really no need to get such a high clarity rating for diamonds to be used in earrings or necklaces. The viewing distances are much longer than for rings and you are only wasting money on VVS diamond earrings.
I’ve came across a 0.5ct VVS pink diamond recently and was very intrigued by the stone’s color. I was told from the source that it came from an Australian mine and the wholesaler was offering it at a fantastic price and that the pink diamond is a good investment as colored diamonds hold their value really well.
I did some research online and saw that similar stones were sold for more than $40,000 online. Since they got it from the source, they are able to sell it to me for $20,000. What do you think?
Many unethical vendors hawk VVS diamonds as being good investments as they are rarer in nature. This isn’t true and the truth is, diamonds are BAD investments due to their high retail markup and market supply. I wrote an entire article on this topic here. Besides, if you were truly looking for investment grade stones, you should be looking at huge diamonds with IF/FL clarity and valuations upwards of millions of dollars.
From what you are describing, it seems like there is no legitimate grading report from GIA for this stone. And if there isn’t, you are bound to be scammed. With pink diamonds, the color hue is of importance and can mean the difference between a valuable stone or a dud.
And what makes the stuff you say right and my jeweler wrong?
Well, I have no interest in selling you a diamond or feeding you marketing bullshit. In the complete opposite, your jeweler has a direct interest in selling you a diamond to make a profit. Of course, you can choose to ignore my opinions or advice. It’s your money you are spending at the end of the day and you are free to do whatever you like with it.
I absolutely love the Ritani cathedral setting from White Flash. Would you have any idea whether the spacing would be proportionate to size of the diamond or would it be the same regardless of the carat weight?
The spacing would be the same as the specifications are fixed. If you need to mount a larger size diamond, the head may have to be custom made. The best thing to do is to check in with White Flash to see what they say. Also, here’s an article about cathedral engagement rings that you may want to check out.
HI PAUL i have a VVS 2 ring from the GIA and with laser inscription,i give you the GIA lab report that is 1172264821,even that the stone is little just 0,47 points the gradings are not bad ,could you please check this out, colour grade g ,vvs2,cut grade excellent ,polish excellent,Symmetry excellent,Fluorescence none ,Clarity Characteristics Pinpoint, Measurements 4.96-4.99 x3.14 mm, it,s a round stone ,my first choice was and stil is IF but i was told it would be more expensive,even i know there is just a little difference between VVS and IF, but i have regrets that i bought the ring from this scammer i payed 2.300 euro for this ring, i hope to hear from you greetings chantal baas from the netherlands.
The diamond is poorly cut and has terrible proportions. What do you want me to tell you except that you made a bad purchase at a high price? You should have done the research BEFORE buying and not the other way round.