Whats the lowest clarity grade you would consider acceptable when buying a diamond?
I would not consider anything less than SI. At that level, the stone still looks perfect to the naked eye, and for the same cost, you can have better cut and color, or a bigger stone, than if you buy a higher clarity grade. Personally, when I selected the diamond for my wife’s ring, I set my budget, and then bought the most dazzling, reflective, colorfully brilliant stone in that range. It was Si, and not the largest carat or biggest ‘appearing’ cut for the dollar even within SI, but it is beautiful and gets lots of comments from her friends. Bigger is not necessarily better. Ours is a brilliant cut, by the way. Going much higher than SI is not noticeable for practical purposes (appearance of quality) in my opinion.
