Gemstone Clarity

Clarity is defined as the presence or absence of blemishes, visible to the naked eye or under a microscope.  Inclusions could be a result of a fracture or chip in the gem, foreign substance or object or a malformed crystal.  These inclusions may affect the value, however, several gemstones occur normally with inclusions, such as ruby or emerald, which doesn’t equate to an automatic lowering of value.
The GIA has developed a clarity grading scale for colored gemstones.  There are three types or classes for gemstones and the following chart summarizes the GIA grading for clarity (click on image for larger view):

Clarity Grading Chart