The 4 C’s: Cut
Understanding the 4 C’s will help you find the perfect diamond for your partner
Diamond Cut
A diamond’s cut doesn’t just refer to its shape. It also determines how well the diamond captures and refracts light, which produces its inimitable sparkle. Well-cut diamonds are extremely brilliant, fiery, and desirable. Poor-cut diamonds, on the other hand, can appear dull and dark even if they have a high grade of color or clarity.
The intense radiance of well-cut diamonds also give them the illusion of appearing larger than other diamonds of the same carat weight. Ideal diamonds have elevated levels of brilliance and diameter compared to diamonds with deeper cuts.
Cut is often considered the most important characteristic of the 4 C’s. This is because it has the biggest impact on the diamond’s overall appearance and quality. Jewelers recommend paying attention to the cut of a diamond above all else.
Types Of Diamond Cuts
Types Of Diamond Cuts
The quality of the cut is defined by the diamond’s proportions and symmetry. A high quality cut can only be created by a highly skilled craftsman.
Diamonds are graded according to a scale, which goes from Ideal to Poor. Even the untrained eye will notice that diamonds with higher cut grades will be more sparkly than diamonds with lower cut grades.
- Ideal Cut diamonds have outstanding sparkle and flawless symmetry. They are cut to perfect proportions for refracting light.
- Excellent Cut diamonds have exceptional sparkle and even patterns.
- Very Good Cut diamonds have great sparkle and polish. They are considered symmetrical.
- Good Cut diamonds have a fine sparkle. They have a reasonable level of polish and symmetry.
- Fair Cut diamonds have a low level of sparkle and polish. They are not always symmetrical.
- Poor Cut diamonds appear dim and asymmetrical, with uneven spots on their surface.
Round & Fancy Shape Diamond Cuts
Only round brilliant diamonds can have an Ideal Cut. The alignments of their facets make it easy to cut perfect proportions for optimal sparkle and symmetry.
Fancy shaped diamonds such as oval, pear, and emerald have different facet alignments, which makes it difficult to attain Ideal Cut level. However, this does not mean that fancy shaped diamonds are of a poor quality. They can still attain Excellent grades and display an exquisite sparkle.
Brides that desire unique shapes shouldn’t feel like they’re sacrificing quality or beauty when choosing a fancy shaped diamond. Seek out diamonds with Excellent polish and symmetry grades to ensure you’re getting a high quality stone that highlights your love’s individuality.
Grading Fancy Shape Diamonds
Fancy shaped diamonds have the same grades as round diamonds, but gemologists use a different approach when evaluating them. Round diamonds are graded using precise measurements, while fancy shaped diamonds use a more subjective approach that measures the stone’s appearance and cut execution.
Shop Fancy Cut DiamondsBrilliance, Dispersion, Fire & Scintillation
Any well-cut diamond will have four key characteristics: brilliance, dispersion, fire, and scintillation.
- Brilliance refers to the light reflected off a diamond’s surface. Whenever light hits the surface of a diamond, it will either reflect off the surface or enter the stone. A well-cut diamond will allow the light to reflect rather than enter, creating a stunning shiny appearance.
- Dispersion occurs when light rays separate into flashes of color after hitting the surface of the diamond.
- Fire is the result of dispersion. White light separates into the spectral colors of the rainbow, creating a fiery appearance on the diamond’s surface.
- Scintillation are the flashes of color that are visible whenever the diamond is in motion. It is the play between the fire and whiteness inside the facets of the diamond.
All four of these elements come together in a well-cut diamond, no matter what its shape is, to create a magnificent and beautiful sparkle.
Ideal Cuts
A perfectly cut stone is referred to as an Ideal Cut diamond. These diamonds are cut in a way that reflects back virtually all of the light that enters them. To create an Ideal Cut diamond, the stone must be cut using precise standards that result in specific proportions.
Ideal Cut diamonds have an unparalleled sparkle compared to other stones. They have the highest level of refraction, fire, and scintillation, acting like a real-life prism whenever they interact with light. This powerful shine often makes the stone appear larger than it actually is.
Many Ideal Cut diamonds have an appearance that resembles the shapes of hearts and arrows. The hearts are visible from the bottom, while arrows are visible from the sides. These stones are also referred to as Hearts and Arrows diamonds, a playful nod to Cupid’s romantic instruments.
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Determining Cut In Lab Grown Diamonds
Lab grown diamonds are cut using the same processes and tools as mined diamonds, and are therefore graded using the same system.
Another benefit of choosing lab grown diamonds, aside from their ethics and value, is that they tend to have better cuts. Synthetic rough is generally more uniform and has fewer imperfections than mined rough. This means that cutters can sculpt higher quality stones from synthetic rough, since they are faced with less limitations. Lab grown diamonds can easily be cut to optimize the stone’s beauty and intrinsic sparkle.
Cut should be your biggest priority when selecting a diamond, since it will directly impact its radiance. Clarity, color, and carat weight can all be secondary factors. Remember that a smaller diamond with a higher quality cut will be more alluring than a larger stone with a worse quality cut!
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