Ever heard of an SI3 Diamond Color Grade, And Don't Know What It is.

The GIA Diamond clarity scale refers to how clean, or free of imperfections a Diamond is. The GIA standard for the clarity scale consists of: FL, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, ???, I1, I2, I3 So what is the SI3?

The SI3 was born out of the desire of the Diamond Industry to incorporate an extra grade to identify Diamonds in the lower range of the clarity scale. Many complained that there is too wide a gap between the SI2 and the I1 grade.

Why not offer an SI3 grade to bridge the gap? After that EGL - Los Angeles (European Gemological Laboratory) started to issue the SI3 grade, Some say the SI3 is a good idea, others say it is a bad idea. The problem with the SI3 today is that GIA, the largest and most widely accepted Gem Laboratory in the world, does not recognize SI3 grades.

If you see a diamond with a SI3 clarity written on the EGL certificate, remember it is basically a I1 on a GIA certificate.