February 22, 2021

Get To Know About The Cut Of A Diamond

Here we focus on the details explaining about the cut of a diamond breaking down the aspects to look at.  We have looked also at the clarity, colour and carat in other articles, we will link them at the bottom, but here we are focusing about the cut of a diamond which makes the greatest impact in terms of the bespoke jewellery design.

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In simple terms; what shape is the diamond? The most common cuts or shapes are the modern round brilliant, oval, princess, marquise, emerald, pear shape and cushion cut diamonds. More unusual cuts can be radiants, triangle, trillions, Asscher, hexagon, and rose cuts. However there are hundreds and thousands of different cut diamonds, the Aries birthstone, on the market  

 

Different Diamond Cuts

Examples of Diamond Cuts

Each type of cut has optimal characteristics to make the stone desirable and more aesthetically pleasing to the consumer. Take the modern round brilliant for example which has 58 facets, yes it is a round stone from the birds eye view but consider the three dimensional form. There are so many angles to optimise and consider, when these are not cut well the stone does not sparkle as well; the light that goes into the stone does not refract as well. You will often hear diamond dealers refer to this aspect as the ‘make’ of the stone, how well has the stone been cut?  
The Cut of a Diamond, the Round Brilliant
Diamond Cut
 
How can you tell if you have a good cut of a diamond?

When buying a stone for an engagement or significant event then the majority of time you will be offered a certificated stone. On a diamond certificate the diamond characteristics have been graded and stated on this document; relating to the cut of a diamond you will find 3 assessments which is the cut, polish and symmetry.

Polish; how shiny are the facets of the stone under a 10x magnification? Windows in a house wouldn’t look great or let in as much light if they had lumps and bumps or scratches, it is the same with a diamond.

Symmetry; how well do all of the angles of the stone line up or work together. Is the culet (point of the diamond) in the centre of the stone perpendicular to the table (the top flat facet in the centre of the stone). The stone wouldn’t be aesthetically pleasing if the culet was off to an angle or if the table was uneven at a slant. If the stone is uneven the sparkle would be uneven, the 'make' of the stone wouldn't be as beautiful.

Cut; as mentioned when working with round brilliant diamonds how round is the gem? How thick or thin is the girdle? What is the ratio of the crown (top section) to the pavilion (bottom section)?

 

These are a couple of questions to consider and we possibly sounded like we were speaking a foreign language with all this diamond detail. These gems are truly a mathematical conundrum with optimum percentages to calculate and cut, if these aren’t achieved then you have to work with tolerances. We can assess the stone and find something suitable for all our clients for any of our bespoke jewellery requests. Each of the polish, cut and symmetry can have a grade between poor, fair, good, very good and excellent. We personally like to recommend, and our personal choice, to create a piece is using a minimum  cut grade of very good. If you have a stone with all cut parameters of excellent (diamond dealer terminology of ‘triple x’) then you do pay a premium for this.

This post is a brief introduction to the cut of a diamond, in particular the modern round brilliant. We are often explaining diamonds to the bewildered people wanting to buy an engagement ring flummoxed by all the variables open to them. Its like a maths equation, playing with all the variables until you get your perfect stone.  This is why sourcing the right stone, and the right engagement ring for you need can be a minefield but more of a reason to find a jeweller you trust and a specialist like us, in diamonds to make your handmade bespoke ring. 

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If you want to understand more about our bespoke jewellery process, or understand more about diamonds, click on these links;