Jewelry Education

Diamonds have been around for centuries and have evolved over the years in their cutting style. Better technologies have helped get a better understanding of these gems thereby giving the clients value for their money. For a little history, diamonds were first maintained in their rough back in the day. This slowly evolved in the 14th and 15th century. It was then polishers from India and Europe found that with diamond dust they could polish the rough surface of the stones. In the 16th century polishing the stone led to a grave loss in carat weight, which slowly evolved by the 19th century when they learnt to cleave and cut a stone. The diamond cutting and polishing process is a complex process: it involves 5 steps, namely, Marking, Cleaving, Sawing, Bruiting & Polishing.

As you might already know, light interacts with everything and generally can be either reflected or refracted when in contact with objects. When light reflects off the surface, without entering the stone it is considered to be the stone’s brilliance. In diamonds, refraction happens when the rays of light slow down within the stone and are hence reflected off other surfaces within the gem. The measure of each gem to slow down rays is the stones Refractive Index, an important point to remember. The RI of diamond is 1.93, which it very high as compared to other gems.
In diamonds, the fire of a stone is a vital factor on which a stone is graded and it is based on the fact that when rays of light leave a stone they are broken down into its spectral colours. The higher the fire, the better the grade.

The round brilliant cut is a well-engineered cut as each facet’s angle helps in returning light.
For an in-depth understanding of a diamond, it has been divided into three parts.

1. Crown -

The top called the “crown” has four different types of facets. The table being the largest facet on the entire stone is the large hexagonal surface you have probably seen ever so often. When the table is too big or perhaps too small it affects the overall look of the stone. It also affects the amount of light entering the stone. Bordering the table are star facets that look like the ends of a star. On the sides of the crown, you will see a kite shaped facet called the bezel facet, next to which you will find the upper girdle facets.

2. Girdle -

Separating the crown from the pavilion is the girdle, used to give the diamond shape during the cutting process and is the widest portion of the stone. The Girdle could either be faceted, polished or bruited where the stone has a rough finish. It is also used to inscribe the stone. Various companies mark their stones with numbers, trademarks, logos or perhaps even a message. This girdle is quite important as it gives the outline to the stones and varies from shape to shape. In stones like pear and marquise if the wings or the pointed parts are very flat the stone tends to look less appealing to the eye. With emerald cuts, a bevelled edge makes the stone less prone to damage and increases the stones attractiveness. If for example, the girdle is too thick it can give the stone dark and fuzzy reflections. In some fancy shapes like the Heart, a thick girdle is required at the cleft.
There is also an angle formed between the crown and the girdle and when this is either too high or too low it can affect the stone. Cutters are often faced with this challenge to either retain weight in from the rough and are forced to reduced the height of the crown angle

3. Pavilion -

The bottom part of the stone is called the pavilion and has elongated kite facets called the pavilion mains. Next to which lie the lower girdle facets. A diamond could or could not have a culet, which is the small circular facet at the bottom of the stone. Large culets tend to be quite unpleasant today although they were a common feature in stones from the 19th century. This culet also protects the stone from chipping or breaking which could be quite an important factor in large and expensive stones. Just like the crown angle the pavilion also forms an angle with the girdle and the culet. When this angle is very shallow it can cause a ring to be seen within the stone called a fish eye that drops the grade. In fancy-shaped, some cutters tend to retain weight from the rough in the pavilion although this can give a dark reflection in the stone when viewed from the top called a bow tie.
At the Gemological Institute of America, the leaders in gemmology, they have generated a scale to help grade diamonds on the basis of light return. The scale ranges from excellent to poor and is affected by slight distortions in each proportion this giving its cut grade. The “cut” attribute of a diamond ranges from “IDEAL” to “GOOD”. When buying solitaires, the cut is very important & only Ideal or Excellent cut stones must be suggested.

When all the factors of the stone are as per the perfect proportions, the stones gets a Triple X cut grade, which is a rare occurrence. These stones tend to have better brilliance as the light interacts with the stone perfectly increasing the value of the stone. Triple X cut grade is a much sought after cut grade and you might hear the term quite regularly in the jewellery industry. Triple X or Triple Excellent, in essence, refers to Excellent Cut, Excellent Polish & Excellent Symmetry. The “cut” attribute of a diamond ranges from “IDEAL” to “GOOD”. When buying solitaires, the cut is very important & only Ideal or Excellent cut stones must be suggested.

The cut may sometimes also refer to the shape of the diamond