Diamond Cut

When buying a diamond, most of us concentrate on the diamond color, clarity and carat (weight). The fourth C – The cut is often underestimated for the role it plays on the pricing and its effect on the color and clarity of the diamond. This happens because the technicalities and the calculations involved in calculating or grading the cut are harder to understand for us the consumers than that of the other C’s.

There are many cut grading scales, but for now I will discuss the GIA cut scale as it is the most common and well known of the scales. This scale applies to the faceted round brilliant cut which is the most common form of cut diamonds. This cut has 58 facets including the culet or the tip of the diamond. The GIA cut scale uses single descriptive words to describe the quality grade of the cut which are as follows:

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Fair

Poor

The parameters used for each grade of quality include the calculations of the girdle diameter, girdle thickness, total height, crown angle, table size, crown height, pavilion depth and the culet. The polish and symmetry of the diamond also play an important part in establishing the quality of the diamond cut.

Diamond Proprtions Chart

The calculations used to measure the above parameters are beyond the scope of this post. The important thing is that you remember that the cut grade of the diamond has a impact on not only its price but also on its color and clarity as a poor or fair cut may reduce the brilliance, luster, color and the durability of the piece (it may be prone to chipping).

When purchasing a diamond try to look for a diamond which is graded Very Good to Good, this in conjunction with the color, clarity and carat(weight) you choose will give you the most value for your money.

Please feel free to give me your feedback on this article and let me know if it helped you or not. Also let me know if there is anything specific you would like to discuss.

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