A diamond
Because of its property of hardness, one of the ways to judge the quality of a diamond as jewelry is through its cut. There are actually four Cs in judging a diamond - Color, Carat, Clarity and Cut.
Cutting diamonds to become jewelry is a delicate and highly regarded craft. It is both science and art – science in that certain angles must have to be precisely followed and art in that the final shape must have to exude high class beauty. A diamond cut should not be confused with its shape which refers to the general outward appearance of a diamond.
Diamond cutting techniques have developed over several hundreds of years. Marcel Tolkowsky, a mathematician and gem enthusiast, is said to have attained the greatest achievement in diamond cutting in 1919 with the development of the brilliant round cut diamonds. He calculated an ideal shape which makes diamonds return and scatter light when viewed from above.
Today’s round brilliant diamonds have 57 polished faces called facets. These facets include 33 on the crown (upper half) and 24 on the pavilion (lower half) part of the diamond. The crown’s function is to diffuse light to many colors while the pavilion’s function is to reflect light.
Generally, there are two types of diamonds cuts. The first type is the Step Cut. This type of cut has simple incision that creates a series of steps on the diamond’s surface. The Brilliant Cut like the one previously mentioned, is designed to maximize the facets of the diamond so that it can give the brightest and most number of colors from the light reflected. A Mixed Cut is a combination of both Step and Brilliant Cuts.
Diamond cuts can be generally categorized into Ideal Cut, Premium Cut, Very Good Cut, Good Cut, Good Cut and Fair-Poor Cut.
The Ideal Cut is designed to maximum the diamond’s brilliance. This cut gives a diamond a great deal of light dispersion. Diamonds having this cut are the most expensive.
The Premium Cut is almost at the same level as the Ideal Cut but is slightly less expensive.
The Very Good Cut makes diamonds reflects a lot of light entering them. Diamonds are designed to proportions to create a larger size.
The Good Cut is less expensive than the Very Good cut. Diamonds are created to be the largest size possible from the rough original crystal. These diamonds are ideal for people under tight budget wanting to buy reasonably priced diamonds without affecting brilliance and elegance.
The Fair-Poor Cut diamond can only reflect a small proportion of light entering it. The quality is rather degraded because the stone is cut to maximize carat weight over other consideration.
To safely determine the best diamond cut, it is best to certificated issued by credible jeweler organizations like the American Gemological Society (AGS) and the International Gemological Institute (IGI).
For more information on diamond cut and loose diamonds please visit Buying a Loose Diamond
Tags: clarity, color, diamond cut., diamonds