Diamond Cut

• Imagine a diamond, and you no doubt think ‘sparkle’. Well, that sparkle comes from the way the diamond is cut. Cut is often confused with the shape of the diamond but in fact they are two different aspects of the stone. Shape refers to the overall outline of a diamond when viewed from above. Examples include princess, emerald, marquise, oval, pear, heart and cushion which are referred to as fancy shapes.

• Cut, on the other hand refers to the way the stone interacts with light. It is an indication of the quality of the facets, symmetry and dimensions which have been cut into the rough diamond and polished to give sparkle and maximize brilliance.

• Most diamonds, though, are round and the facets are cut and polished to show off the brilliance of the stone. A round brilliant diamond displays 58 facets, 33 on the crown and 25 on the pavilion, for maximum sparkle.

• A well-cut diamond will display three aesthetic properties; brilliance, dispersion and scintillation. Light which hits the diamond and reflects off it is known as brilliance. As light enters the diamond, some of the rays are ‘dispersed’ leading to flecks of colored light known as ‘fire’. When a diamond is moved, these colors move too. This phenomenon is known as scintillation. So, aesthetically, it could be argued that cut is more important than carat