Diamond Brilliance and Fire

What’s the visual difference between beautifully cut and poorly cut diamonds? Unfortunately, the majority of diamonds sold to the public are poorly cut. They are cut with angles and proportions that direct light into the bottom section (pavilion) of the diamond, after which this light exits the stone, sparkling its way to the floor.

Beautifully cut diamonds are cut so that once light reaches the pavilion, it reflects back up to the top section (crown), and then explodes from all the crown facets. This is what creates tremendous sparkle to the eye in the most gorgeous diamonds of the world. These diamonds sparkle even in shadows! These diamonds are available in all sizes, shapes, and degrees of rarity.

If you look at three diamonds of approximately the same carat weight and the same shape, their rarity does not matter.

• Diamond #1 is cut to superb proportions and polish, and is incredibly sparkly all across and around the top of the stone.


• Diamond #2 is somewhat sparkly, most of the sparkle visible toward the edges of the stone.


• Diamond #3 also has some sparkle, but it is almost totally around the perimeter, with the center of the diamond “flat” and “glassy” looking.

Once you see this difference, and you learn that explosions of light have nothing to do with the rarity of the stone, you begin to understand the vital importance of cut to the beauty of your diamond.

The primary goal of most diamond cutters is to fashion the single heaviest carat weight diamond that can be obtained from the rough crystal. This allows the rough crystal to be most efficiently utilized and returns the best profit to the cutter. In addition, most retail merchants (the purchasers of polished diamonds) look for heavier carat weight diamonds in response to the public’s interest in buying them. Very few retail jewelers look for diamonds of the greatest beauty, which require the cutter to cut away and waste more of the rough crystal to produce a somewhat smaller diamond but of substantially better brilliance and fire.

For about 20 years, gemologists have worked with a few scales, which attempt to “grade” the quantity and quality of brilliance and fire through a diamond. Their grades are reflected in some of the better laboratory reports or jewelers’ diamond descriptions. These are helpful, though they require serious study to understand how to use them correctly.

We cannot over-emphasize enough the importance of cut to the long-term pleasure and long-term value of owning a fine diamond. It is the cut that defines beauty in diamonds, and what is remembered and enjoyed far more than the grades of color and clarity, or the carat weight.

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