The cuts of a diamond greatly impact the price point, as well as its beauty. There are certain ways to evaluate a diamond based on the cut. When you choose a diamond, these factors play a major role in that decision. However, there needs to be an expert understanding of light and angles in order to properly judge it.
The cut has a lot to do with other factors, such as the carat size and how bright it is. A lot of people may jump right to the carat, but without a proper cut the carat isn’t possible. And the cut largely determines the brilliance and dispersion. When a cut is poorly executed, it may ruin the diamond. Learn more about diamond cuts. And give us a call to learn more about how we are a trusted supplier of natural industrial diamonds.
Diamond Cut Grades
For round brilliant diamonds, cut grades are as follows:
- Excellent
- Very good
- Good
- Fair
- Poor
When it comes to the cutting, that is typically done by lasers. So many diamonds you’ll run across are in the Very Good to Excellent range. When a cut falls below excellent, it is because the cut is trying to save some weight. For the most part, diamond cutting is a compromise between saving weight, while still maintaining good brightness, pattern, and symmetry. And trying to find the right balance to make the best possible diamond.
In general, larger carat sized diamonds command a higher price, despite the cut being of a lower grade. The increase in carat size carries more value than the lower cut grade. However, the cut can be clumsy enough to drive down that price more. And on top of that, a badly cut stone may also have less brilliance and fire than a comparable, well-cut stone.
The Anatomy of a Diamond
Diamond graders will evaluate round brilliant diamond cuts based on how closely the stone comes to having the ideal properties. By having ideal properties, you get a diamond showing maximum brilliance and fire. The proportions for an ideal diamond, or any diamond for that matter, depend on a few different factors. The main factors are:
- table size
- the crown angle
- girdle thickness
- pavilion angle
- culet
These individual factors can receive cut grades, too. And will have a major impact on the price point of the diamond. Learn more in-depth aspects about the anatomy of a diamond. This information helps to determine the price point of any stone.
The Art of Judging Diamonds
When it comes to the art of judging diamond cuts, it is not all measuring angles and percentages to see if they match some sort of specified parameters. No. A diamond can receive an Excellent grade for the individual categories of table size, crown angle, and total depth percentage, but only earn a final score of Very Good or Good overall. That is because some of these properties simply do not work well together. A good rule of thumb when thinking about this is that a diamond’s overall cut grade is only as high as the lowest grade in any of the cut subcategories.
The ultimate end result these parameters yield for a diamond cut is that the stone should have great pattern, fire and brightness. These are the qualities that have a great impact on the price point of the diamond. A stone with good brightness will be bright. The nice pattern of the cut ensures a strong contrast between light and dark. And a stone with good fire shows flashes across most of the crown facets. The fire also displays a variety of colors, but the color red is the most valuable of the colors. Learn more about the color for diamonds.
Grading Diamond Cuts
When a diamond has the cut, symmetry and polish all grade out as Excellent, then you will commonly hear the term “triple excellent.” But do not get overly enthused by this term. “Triple excellent” diamond cuts are fairly common, so it does not drastically impact the price point.
Then there is a difference in grading round brilliant diamonds and fancy diamond cuts. A fancy diamond cut involves much looser and more subjective parameters. A round brilliant diamond gains value for brilliance and fire, which requires a more exacting method of research and a precision to the cutting. On the flip side, a fancy cut diamond gains value primarily for the appeal of their shape. The pattern and brilliance are then secondary concerns in the grading process.