The Art of Diamond Cutting

Diamonds are a gift of nature since they bring about elegance and beauty to anyone who marvels it. Yet the perfect, glamorous look it projects is a man made art brought by the skills of a diamond cutter. It all began back in the 1300’s when gem cutters from Europe and India have began cutting and shaping rough diamonds, which was then perfected by many as time passed by with the help of various methods of cutting formulated and made known to many gem cutters. A diamond’s brilliance and its ability to reflect its light has to do largely with the cut made. Using a designed optical proportions model, diamonds are worked through this model by a cutter who has the proper tools and set of skills. Different measuring tools are used by gem cutters in order to distinguish its dimensions, light performance and the finish.

Achieving Brilliance

Despite seeing a diamond so clear and bright, it might still exhibit a dull brilliance if the cut made is very poor, which makes the cut very essential on a diamond’s brilliance according to gemologists. The light that passes through the diamond varies based on how wide and deep the cuts are. If a cut is too shallow, the diamond gives off lesser brilliance since more light goes out at the bottom. Darker and dull-looking diamonds are caused by cuts that are too deep. When there is more than enough brilliance shown off by a diamond, the cutter has made a successful cut. On the other hand, dull stones with cheap values are the result of an unsuccessful cut.

Optical measuring devices are being used nowadays to know the angles and proportions. These devices project a 3D model of a certain diamond. How these dimensions relate to one another determines the reaction of light as it passes through, as well as its behavior once it leaves. With the use of state of the art computer models, the behavior of light can be traced to go along with its brightness level, sparkle and fire; or how does it appear from the outside.

The Symmetry and Finish

How a diamond is polished and how symmetrical it looks like are essential aspects to consider when cutting diamonds. Polish grades refer to how smooth the diamond’s facets are, and how aligned these facets look like describes the symmetry. Poorly polished diamonds result to dulled surfaces of facets and may result to a dull and blurry diamond sparkle. Symmetry is poor when light passes and exits the diamond without any sort of direction.

How Diamonds Cuts are Graded

A cut grade is given to round diamonds, the lone type of diamond that is given a grade. This is in accordance to research done by the GIA (Gemology Institute of America), specifically in the color ranges of D-Z. The GIA has made intensive research and testing for 15 years until they have come up with this grading system in the first months of 2005. Since January 2006, these cut grades have been incorporated in all GIA diamond certificates. The remarks given are either of these, namely Ideal or Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair or a Poor grade. Other diamond shapes are not graded like round diamonds. These diamonds are the emerald-cuts, princess-cuts and diamonds that exhibit fancy shapes. Although without a grade, these diamonds are given scores by their symmetry and how it is polished.

Every cut grade corresponds to a specific manifestation as well as proportions of diamonds which signify an impact for every grade.

• Ideal or Excellent Grade - Base on the cut being done, this is the most uncommon of all cuts where the top 3% quality of diamonds belongs. All lights that go through the diamond will be reflected back.
• Very Good Grade - The top 15% of diamond quality belongs to this grade of round diamonds. It costs less than excellently graded diamonds, yet the amount of light that it reflects closely resembles to that of ideal cuts.
• Good Grade - This cut diamond grade reflects a large amount of light that passes through it. Base on its cut, it is among the top 25% of diamond quality and it is sold in more affordable prices than its higher quality counterpart, the very good cut diamonds.
• Fair Cut - Around top 35% of quality diamonds are labeled as Fair cut diamonds. The diamonds still possess a good value, yet it is of lesser brightness compared to good cut diamonds. The lowest grade of all cuts is having a poor cut.
• Poorly Cut - When diamonds are cut poorly, they are wide and shallow in appearance or either it is deeply and narrowly cut. Most jewelry stores do not manufacture this kind of diamond cut.

 

How It Started

The cut grading system was formulated after the GIA made calculations of 70,000 diamond observations among 38.5 million sets from seven components, namely: brightness, fire and scintillation, which is related to the diamond’s appearance while the weight, ratio, durability, polish and symmetry refer to its craftsmanship in general. Round diamonds graded prior to January 2006 will not be given a laboratory cut grade. In the GIA research, their findings show that a lot of combinations or parameters are being done to obtain an efficient cut. There were also instances where the best parameters were a substandard to the excellent cuts classified by GIA. Another cut grading method being used is the AGSL cut grading criteria which identifies the diamond’s brilliance and fire through Light Performance, Proportion Factors and the Finish. The cut grades are determined by looking at 11 various criteria to be used upon examining. 

The Best Cut Grades

To determine the best cut grade for diamonds, a cut that will look brilliant on a microscopic view is one classification of a well cut diamond. These cuts are made to the very distinct proportions, thus resulting to a very brilliant diamond. In order to obtain diamonds with the most excellent value, a cut grade of good or very good as well as good and very good polish and symmetry grades must be selected. To identify the best of diamonds, it is essential to review diamonds with grades that are less expensive in terms of clarity and color. Diamonds have this exceptional ability to maneuver light effectively. When the diamond has undergone the steps of cutting and polishing, this ability can be seen when these two are done very accurately.