Diamonds & Gemstones

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Cut

Diamond Cut is the most important property to increase its beauty because a well-cut diamond reflects light to maximize the stone”s brilliance. A diamond with perfect color and clarity could nevertheless have poor brilliance if it is not well cut.

After a proper cutting, size of the stone may reduce by half but its market value may increase more than four times for its brilliance and sparkle. Diamonds have a unique ability to manipulate light efficiently. This exceptional ability can be revealed and maximized only by cutting and polishing the diamond to an extremely high level of accuracy.

It is very essential to know Diamond Anatomy before understanding Cut.

Diamond Anatomy

• Diameter: Width of a diamond measured through the Girdle.
• Table: Largest facet of a gemstone.
• Crown: Top portion of a diamond extending from the Girdle to the Table.
• Girdle: Intersection of the Crown and Pavilion which defines the perimeter of the diamond.
• Pavilion: Bottom portion of a diamond, extending from the Girdle to the Culet.
• Culet: Facet at the tip of a gemstone. The preferred Culet is not visible with an unaided eye (graded “none” or “small”).
• Depth: Height of a gemstone measured from the Culet to the Table.

The cut of a diamond establishes how it reflects light, which is responsible for its sparkle or brilliance. Cut has following three components:

Diamond Cut by Shape

A Diamond Cut by Shape describes the outline of the stone and pattern of the facet arrangement. A stone can be cut in various Shapes like Round, Princess, Heart, Oval, Pear etc.

Diamond Cut by Depth

A Diamond Cut by Depth is the ultimate feature for its brilliance and fire.

Shallow Cut: Shallow Cut will let light lost through a diamond”s bottom causing it to appear dull.

Deep Cut: Deep Cut will allow light to be lost through a diamond”s sides causing it to appear dark.

Ideal Cut: Ideal Cut is considered as the best cut and it will reflect most or all of the light that enters in the diamond back to the eyes.

Quality of a diamond”s cut can be determined on the basis of its power to reflect light. They can be broadly characterized as Ideal, excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair or Poor. Ideal or Excellent cuts release the inner brilliance of the stone and project maximum amount of fire and sparkle where as Very Good, Good and Fair cuts loose some light that enters the diamond. A poor cut looses most of its light from the diamond sides / bottom and it may even have some “dead” spots inside.

Diamond Polish and Symmetry

Polish and symmetry are two important aspects of the cutting process. The Diamond Polish expresses the smoothness of the diamond”s facets where as the Symmetry refers to alignment of the facets. A poor Diamond Polish, or rough facets, can diminish a diamond”s brilliance, as well as its value.