Diamond Cut Grading

The 4 C’s

The four main characteristics of a diamond are defined by the 4 C’s. It is important to understand the 4 C’s in order to not spend more money than necessary and be able to select the most important diamond characteristics to meet your budget.

Diamond Cut Grade

Princess cut diamondDiamond Advisor’s bottom line:

Stick with a diamond that has a cut grade of “Very Good”. The diamond will have plenty of brilliance and will be proportioned well. Upgrading to an “Excellent” cut grade is definitely an option and the difference can be appreciated by the naked eye. This is not a must and should only be considered if your budget allows.

Let’s start with the characteristic that may be the most important of the 4 C’s.

Cut is not to be mixed up with the shape of a diamond. A diamonds cut actually refers to how well the diamond is proportioned, if it is cut at the correct angles and how much brilliance and light is reflected back­ to ones eye.

Each diamond is supposed to be cut by specific angles. Even though that this is the main factor, there is another major factor that influences the cut grade of the diamond. The light performance test, which basically means how well light is retracted back to ones eye and how brilliant the diamond is.

For example, If the angle of the pavilion is cut too shallow the diamond will be too deep. This will cause two things to happen.

  1. The diamond will be too deep and the weight of the diamond will be hidden in the pavilion making the diamond have a smaller face than an average diamond of that size.
  2. Because the diamond is not cut at the ideal angles it can affect the dispersion of light entering the diamond taking away from the brilliance of the diamond and in some cases making the diamond look dull.

Two other aspects that make up the diamonds cut grade are:

  1. Polish
  2. Symmetry

These two specifications are less important and have less affect on the overall brilliance of the diamond but can definitely ruin the beauty of the diamond in the more extreme cases.

I recommend a minimum of a “Good” for the polish and symmetry. The difference can barely be seen between “Good” symmetry or polish and “Excellent” symmetry or polish.