Choosing The Cut of A Diamond

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Diamonds from the mine aren't much to look at. It's the cut of the diamond that releases its radiant beauty.

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.

Calla cut diamond is called after Calla lily, a South African plant widely cultivated for its showy pure white spathe and yellow spadix

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.

The diamond in an engagement ring or a solitaire pendant may have different shapes, but the facets are what provide its radiant brilliance.

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.

Princess cut diamonds are quite popular in a solataire ring or pendant necklace design, but it's the quality of the cutting that determines how much sparkle it will have.

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.

Other resources

  • Diamond Cuts
    In their most natural form, diamonds are not really nice looking. They have no luster or shine, and in fact, look like nothing more than broken glass. A diamond must be cut, and then polished before it actually becomes a thing of beauty.
    Read more: How are diamonds cut
  • Are diamonds really rare ?
    Diamond is the hardest known natural material and one of the two best known forms(or allotropes) of carbon, whose hardness and high dispersion of light make it useful for industrial applications and jewelry. (The other equally well known allotrope is graphite.) Diamonds are specifically renowned as a mineral with superlative physical qualities — they make excellent abrasives because they can be scratched only by other diamonds, Borazon, ultrahard fullerite, or aggregated diamond nanorods, which also means they hold a polish extremely well and retain luster. About 130 million carats (26,000 kg) are mined annually, with a total value of nearly USD $9 billion. About 100 tons are synthesized annually.
    Read more: Are diamonds rare

 
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