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The gemstone shopper’s ultimate question – carat or clarity? The ultimate answer – whatever. Bad joke. But sincerely it all depends on the type of gemstone you are looking for and of course on your preference.
Some species of gemstones naturally occur with more inclusions than others. For instance sapphires, rubies and emeralds are usually more included as compared to gemstones like citrine, aquamarine, amethyst etc. Thus while a moderately included sapphire is desirable, a moderately included citrine would have to be heavily discounted in its cost considering the inclusions. Inclusions are a very important criterion of the gemstone cost, but the value is determined depending on the type of gemstone. An eye-clean is rare and costs very high but an eye-clean aquamarine can be commonly found, so it doesn’t cost the earth.
The value logic in case of carat is the same. For some gemstones size is a big determining factor since large sizes is an extreme rarity. A little increase in size would increase an emerald’s cost substantially but citrines in large sizes can be commonly found, so though the cost goes up with size but not in that proportion.
Like I said, it all depends on your preference. If size matters to you, play around with clarity. Choose a gemstone that has inclusion but the inclusions do not mar the gemstones face-up beauty or make it brittle. And if clarity is your criteria, look for your gem in smaller size, or look for shapes like marquise, pear other than round that look bigger in those shapes.
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