Diamond Cut

What is diamond cut?

Diamond cut is often misunderstood to describe the shape of a diamond (round, oval, etc.). In reality, a diamond's cut refers to how well a diamond's facets interact with light. A diamond's cut has a direct impact on the diamond's overall beauty and sparkle. Diamond cutters use proportion, polish, and symmetry to maximize the amount of light reflected. The higher quality diamond cuts (i.e., very good and ideal) are proportioned in a way that ensures that most of the light entering a stone exits through the top, balancing white light (brilliance) and colorful fire (dispersion).

What do different diamond cuts look like?

As you can see from the example below, when a diamond is cut too shallow, the light will pass right through the bottom - definitely not what you want from a diamond. If a diamond is cut too deep, then the light is going to pass through the side of the diamond - still not what you want. When a diamond cut is proportional, symmetrical and precise, a maximum amount of light will be reflected through the top of the diamond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are the different diamond cut grades?

The diamond cut grading scale runs from poor to excellent. We hand-select each and every diamond we use in our jewelry creations. You'll find only two cuts at Iris & Mill:

Excellent/Ideal: Represents the top 3% of diamond cut quality and reflects the maximum amount of light back through the top of the diamond.

Very Good: Represents approximately the top 15% of all diamond in cut quality. Reflects almost as much light as an excellent cut but for a lower retail cost point.

Which diamond cut should I choose?

If you're going to splurge on one facet of the 4Cs, it should be diamond cut. Cut has, arguably, the greatest overall effect on diamond quality. Target only very good and excellent cut diamonds - which lucky for you is exactly what we carry at Iris & Mill!