Choosing The Cut of A Diamond

Ads by Google

Choosing The Cut of A Diamond

There are many different cuts of diamonds to choose from. The cut essentially refers to the shape that the diamond is cut into – unless you are in the diamond or jewelry business, but this shape has a great impact on the much the diamond sparkles.

The most popular cuts are heart, marquise, oval, pear, princess, round, trillion, and emerald cuts. The shape has an impact on how much the diamond sparkles, but the

actual cutting itself – when the diamond cutter actually cuts the diamond into a particular shape – also matters a great deal. If the diamond is poorly cut, it will lose its sparkle.

However, in the diamond industry, the cut of a diamond doesn’t refer to its shape at all. Instead, this is a reference to the stone’s depth, width, brilliance, durability, clarity, and other aspects of the diamond. Common cutting problems include a missing or off center culet, misalignment, a diamond that is too thick or too thin, cracks, or broken culets.

When shopping for a diamond, you should of course choose the shape that you like the best, but then look at several different diamonds of that shape to find the one with the best cut – the one that sparkles the most, in all types of lighting.

The cut of the diamond determines its shape. There are many different shapes for diamonds. What gives diamonds its brilliance is its facets. Each flat surface you see on a diamond is called a facet. These allow light to enter the diamond where it refracts into a rainbow of colors reflecting against other facets until the light comes out another facet. A diamond cut ideally will reflect the light towards your eyes as shown in the example.

As the image shows, an ideal cut diamond is more effective at reflecting the light back at the viewer. The less-than-ideal cuts lose the light either through the side of the bottom.