| Richard T.Liddicoat proposed and developed | | | | Though this new system of grading had been |
| the GIA clarity grading system in 1952. He | | | | contributed to the industry, there was the |
| was the president of GIA at that time. It | | | | need to popularise it. It required lot of |
| took lot of effort and dedication to start | | | | practice and training to incorporated it |
| this new system. He got tremendous support | | | | fully into the trade. |
| from Lester Bensen, joe Phillips, Robert | | | | |
| Crowningshield and Bert Krashes. | | | | In april 1953, Soon after revealing the GIA |
| | | | clarity grading sytem, the first diamond |
| The system was developed for assessment of | | | | grading class was started by Liddicoat and |
| the clarity of the diamonds used in jewelry. | | | | Robert Crowningshield. The place of this |
| While in the progress of development the | | | | first distinguished course was New York. With |
| clarity grading system was called 'diamond | | | | a modest beginning that attracted only about |
| grading and evaluation appraisal'. The key | | | | 11 students from Massachusetts and |
| aspects of the grading system were - color, | | | | Pennsylvania, GIA clarity grading courses are |
| clarity and make (quality of the cut, polish | | | | held in various cities and this learning is |
| and finish). | | | | disseminated using various teaching methods |
| | | | like distance education, traveling extension |
| Even though there were some other grading | | | | classes and probably webex too. |
| systems available for diamonds, there was no | | | | |
| single system that was used as a standard | | | | The system developed in 1953 underwent its |
| across traders. Some of the classifications | | | | first change only in 1970 when the IF grade |
| that were used before the formal development | | | | was added to the already present nine grades. |
| of the GIA clarity grading system were terms | | | | This was done because Liddicoat realized that |
| like Flawless, VVS, VS, SI and I. | | | | many diamonds were re polished to get the |
| | | | Flawless certificate, compromising on the |
| But these terms of classifying diamonds were | | | | symmetry and the proportions. (IF grade means |
| not very accurate and therefore was very | | | | Internally Flawless where the diamond can |
| arduous to use it practically in the trade. | | | | have some blemishes from outside but has to |
| | | | be flawless internally.) |
| In the early 1953, after the completion of | | | | |
| the GIA clarity grading system, it was | | | | Minor changes have been made to the system |
| formally announced and made public.This | | | | since then but the GIA Clarity Grading System |
| initial system had nine grades and these | | | | was the first attempt to professionalize any |
| included - Flawless, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, | | | | kind of diamond clarity grading system. The |
| SI1, SI2, I1 and I2. The 'I' stood for | | | | efforts by Liddicoat and team have led to a |
| Imperfect and was exactly the opposite of the | | | | more objective classification of the diamonds |
| Flawless diamond. | | | | that are traded today and therefore made the |
| | | | industry more structured. |