Diamond Jewelry Cut

A diamond's cut must not be confused with its shape. A diamond can be cut into any shape by grinding and polishing, small, flat planes into the diamond, so that the maximum amount of light is reflected back to the viewer's eye.

These polished flat planes are known as facets and are produced according to exact mathematical formulae. A good cut gives a diamond its brilliance, sparkle and fire:

• Brilliance - The internal and external reflection of light to the eye from a gemstone.

• Sparkle - Also known as Scintillation - The flashing effect produced when a diamond is moved in the light.

• Fire - Also known as Dispersion - The flashes of different rainbow colors resulting from the dispersion of light, particularly when viewing a diamond in strong, direct light.

While the shape of a diamond has an has an impact on how much the diamond sparkles (the most popular shapes being heart, marquise, oval, pear, princess, round, trillion, and emerald), just as important are the table size, crown angle, and pavilion depth, all of which have a dramatic effect on diamond jewelry quality and appearance. In the diamond insdustry these are all aspects of a diamond's cut.

The cut of a diamond being 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.

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.