Your Guide to Diamond Cuts

Diamonds are a girl's best friend. The problem is deciding if you are paying a reasonable amount or bring ripped off. Here is a guide to teach you more about diamond cuts to ensure that you choose the best diamonds for the price.

There are four ‘C’s to be noted when it comes to choosing your diamond - Carat Weight, Colour, Clarity, and Cut. Out of these four ‘C’s, cut is the most important. So ignoring the cut of your diamond can lead to serious regret. This is because if your diamond has a poor quality cut, the diamond will have little brilliance and poor value. Essentially, the cut of a diamond directly reflects the beauty, aesthetics, and value of your diamond.

What is a Diamond Cut?

The term ‘diamond cut’ does not refer to the diamond’s shape. Instead, a diamond cut allows you to see how well a diamond has been cut and polished. It also allows you to see how well proportioned the stone is in terms of depth and symmetry. The quality of the cut affects the brilliance and beauty of the diamond. If the diamond is well cut, it will be luminous and reflect white and colored light back to your eyes. A diamond that has been cut poorly will look dull.

GIA’s Diamond Cut Quality Grade for Round Diamonds

The range goes from Excellent to Poor. The GIA diamond cut grade is determined by quite a few factors such as the diamond’s polish, symmetry, brilliance, and fire. If you want a diamond with the most brilliance and beauty, only look into the Round Brilliant diamonds with Excellent cut. Nothing less. Make sure that the symmetry and polish of the diamond are either Excellent or Very Good.

Truth is, about 55% of all Round diamonds are able to receive a standard of an excellent cut grade from the GIA. However, out of these ‘excellent’ grade diamonds, 25-30% is not recommended. Many reviews have shown that many of these Excellent cut diamonds have bad specs in terms of depth, table, and angles.

As such, when choosing a diamond for yourself, do not only rely on the GIA certificate that is presented to you. Instead, take it upon yourself to examine the diamond closely or to ask an expert for help. Those looking to pop the question can consider buying their diamond rings at the best jewellery shop in singapore, which promises only the best quality diamonds.

Diamonds: Cut Grades

Below is a list of the different diamond cut grades given by the GIA:

Excellent

The highest level of fire and balance. This is because the diamond is about to reflect most of the incoming light that shines through the table. As such, the diamond will sparkle brightly.

Very Good

Has exceptional brilliance and fire. Most of the light entering the diamond is reflected through the diamond’s table. From afar, a Very Good grade diamond will sparkle as brightly as the Excellent grades ones.

Good

Exhibits brilliance and sparkle. There is a good amount of light being reflected through the table into your eye. Get a beautiful diamond at a lower price point.

Fair

The diamond has little brilliance and light can easily exit through the bottom and sides of the diamond. Choosing this grade is only somewhat suitable for when you pick out smaller carats and those acting as side stones.

Poor

No sparkle, brilliance, or fire. Light entering escapes easily from the bottom and sides of the diamond.

How the Cut Grade Influences Price

Diamond cut prices are determined by the proportions and symmetry. A diamond’s depth, table, and all other proportions are taken into consideration and checked to be as accurate as it can be. As such, the cost of such a diamond would be much higher than that of a regular excellent cut diamond. If the surface of the diamond is proportional, a lot of light can be reflected back into the eye, making the diamond sparkle even brighter. If the diamond is not cut right, there would not be as much sparkle. As such, the amount of light being reflected back as well as its brilliance found in an extremely well-cut diamond is definitely worth the extra price. If there is no brilliance nor fire, the diamond would be dull and unattractive. This is why the Cut of a diamond is more important than its Colour or Clarity. If you are on a budget, we recommend that you focus your attention on the diamond’s GIA Cut Grade and give up on its grade in Colour and Clarity.

What affects the Diamond Cut

The higher the quality of the diamond, the higher the price. What then makes a diamond one of good quality? The diamond’s proportions, facets, finishing details, and ability to reflect light all affect its quality.

Proportions refer to the ratio and size of the depth, width, and table of the diamond. Your diamond should not be one with either too shallow or too deep of a cut. If it is too shallow, the light will exit through the sides and not to your eyes. As such, the diamond sparkle will be reduced. If it is too deep, the diamond will look smaller and dull.

Symmetry is the accuracy of the facets, windows, mirrors, and steps.

Polish is the shine and glow of the diamond’s surface.

Difference between Diamond Cut and Diamond Shape

The shape of a diamond refers to the outline or figure of the diamond. For instance, having a Pear shaped diamond or a Round Brilliant. These are terms to use when talking about the shape of a diamond. When people talk about the cut of a diamond, they mean the symmetry, dimensions, facets, and reflectiveness of the diamond. The finer the cut, the greater the brilliance and fire the diamond has.

Conclusion

Never go less than the “Excellent” or “Ideal” selections when you are picking out a diamond. In the event where you wish to purchase a diamond of another shape, one important step to take is to check out a high-quality image of the diamond first. Afterwhich, decide if you would like to buy it as the quality of a fancy-shaped diamond cannot be determined purely through its certificate statistics. This applies to a regular shaped diamond as well.