Cut Explained Cut describes the workmanship and design of turning a “raw” diamond crystal that comes from the earth, into a vibrant gem. Learning about a diamond’s cut-design involves distinguishing the different characteristics of how light interacts with a diamond and choosing the characteristics you like most.It’s about your taste and what pleases your eye. A diamond cutter makes choices when they plan and execute how a raw diamond’s cut will interact with light. There is not a single way he or she can cut a “top-grade” that everyone prefers. But once you know the words that describe what a diamond does with light then you’ll be able to see each cut characteristic for yourself. Brightness Is the level of light that radiates up from within the diamond.When a ray of light passes through the surface of a diamond, it will bend like a light ray passing through a prism. With diamonds, light bends more because diamonds are so dense.Once inside the diamond, as the light ray continues on its path, it will bend two more times completing a U-turn so that now, the light ray returns a shower of brightness and fire back toward your eye but only if cut with a proper silhouette.Without a proper silhouette, light will bend upon entering the surface but some will escape through the side and bottom and fail to complete the U-turn, causing less brightness and less of the rainbow-like fire that results from each bend. Weight Ratio Why don’t all diamonds have a desirable silhouette? This is the secret to what is called weight-ratio. Weight–ratio is the relationship between the diamond size (viewed from the top) and it’s weight. Think of the diamond cutter like a butcher who must trim away the fat.If a raw diamond has a diameter of only 6 mm then its proper design would be as a ⅞ carat with a lean belly and a proper silhouette. If the underbelly fat were not removed, the 6 mm diamond would have the wrong weight-ratio.It will weigh one carat but will look like a ⅞ carat diamond lacking beauty. In order to unleash a high level of brightness the cutter must slice away slabs from its “belly,” to steer light in a desirable U-turn.
Fire Fire, sometimes called dispersion, describes the colors-of-a-rainbow that appear in a diamond.Diamonds behave like prisms.Since the shape is different than prisms the colors don’t appear in straight rows but more like shards of color as in a kaleidoscope.As a diamond moves the shards of colors change like in a kaleidoscope so it’s best to see fire in different lighting conditions, from different viewing angles.It is also best to view the diamond from a distance of over three feet because when viewed from up close the chards of color change to shards of white light.Perrywinkle diamonds come with a separate fire grade that will help you determine what cut design you most prefer. Scintillation Scintillation describes the sparkling or twinkling effect given off as diamonds are moving about. It looks as if you are seeing bright white flashes of mini-fireworks within the diamond. The sparkle, or flashes-of-light, comes from rays of light reflecting off the diamond’s many surfaces. All diamonds will have some amount of these flashes. Your eye “notices” the flashes if there is sufficient contrast just as stars against the dark night are lost in the daytime. These mini-flashes are more beautiful than one big blast which would appear “washed out” like a blaring headlight. The pattern of the scintillation is also important so that you see an evenly spread out field of “stars”� rather than a blotchy array. Symmetry Symmetry describes the alignment of the many surfaces on a diamond called facets. If you could slice a diamond, like a cake, would each slice have duplicate shaped facets that are mirror images? If not, your eye could be drawn to the slice that is dissimilar. Diamonds that are perfectly aligned appear more beautiful to us just like the faces of supermodels which are said to be have perfect symmetry. Symmetry also describes how perfect the shape of diamond is. For instance, if the diamond is round, is there a flat spot along the circle or an imperceptive oval shape to the circle?The workmanship involved in creating excellent symmetry takes time, care, planning & attention to detail.
Polish Polish describes the quality of a diamond’s surface. Imagine a typical diamond’s 58 polished surfaces called facets. Their shapes vary but most resemble a stretched or contorted kite. And, due to a diamond’s extreme hardness, creating a mirror-like finish on each surface can only be achieved after long and painstaking grinding then polishing. Why is this important? Because even if it takes a microscope to see the tell-tale circular lines that result from an improperly polished diamond, if not eliminated, they will interfere with the luster, or “pop,” that comes from light reflecting off its surfaces. Then, these individual surfaces must join invisibly, with seamless edges, so that the diamond appears as a solid mono-lithe. Durability Diamond is the hardest material in the world but that doesn’t mean you can’t break or chip it. In fact, when a diamond cutter splits a raw diamond crystal into two pieces often times all it takes is a tap in the right spot. It is important to cut a diamond so that its outer edge, called its girdle, is not too thin. Otherwise, over time, the girdle may be exposed and susceptible to getting tiny chips. Equally important are the points on the very bottom of the diamond, called the culet and the corners of some of the fancy shaped diamonds. Under a microscope you’ll notice that the culet doesn’t come point, at all on a well cut diamond, otherwise it would be susceptible to breaking while the diamond is being set.
