DIAMOND
CUT
A diamond’s cut determines its sparkle. To fashion a stone with proportions, symmetry and polish worthy of an excellent cut grade requires artistry and workmanship. The finer the cut quality, the more sparkle the diamond has.
Of all the 4 Cs, the cut is the most important factor to ensure the brilliant dazzle of a diamond. While all of the other Cs are determined by nature, this is the only factor that is determined by man.
International Gemological Institute: IGI grades the cut by precisely measuring the angles and sizes of the facets of a diamond. These include the diamond’s table, depth, girdle, pavilion, crown, and culet. Polish and symmetry can also play a minor role. All these factors come together to determine the cut grade of the diamond.
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Inferior cut grades may exhibit ‘light leakage’ or undesirable dark zoning, such as a bowtie. This is when light enters the stone but is not dispersed or reflected adequately. Light leakage results in possibly a dark, dull, and less appealing diamond. These diamonds do not meet our criteria and are not used in our designs. Cut grading is only issued for round diamonds and do not apply to any other shape.
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At Nishal Gems, we only work with excellent cut round diamonds and fancy cut diamonds that present a very good to excellent polish and symmetry. All diamonds are assessed on their overall brilliance, light performance and visual beauty.
Excellent or Ideal
DIAMOND CUT GRADING
Diamonds classified as Excellent or Ideal cut offer the most sparkle, dispersion and fire and are considered to be of the highest quality. Light moving through an ideal cut diamond bounces almost fully back out the top of the stone and brings its brilliance into view.
Very Good
DIAMOND CUT GRADING
Diamonds classified as Very Good offer slightly less brilliance and scintillation than the excellent cut. However, as the difference between the two is almost indistinguishable to the unaided eye, very good cuts offer better value for money than excellent cut diamonds.
Good
DIAMOND CUT GRADING
Diamonds classified as Excellent or Ideal cut offer the most sparkle, dispersion and fire and are considered to be of the highest quality. Light moving through an ideal cut diamond bounces almost fully back out the top of the stone and brings its brilliance into view.
Fair | Poor
DIAMOND CUT GRADING
Light moving through a shallow cut diamond is lost out of the bottom of the stone and the lack of light play makes shallow cut diamonds appear lifeless.
Light moving through a deep cut diamond escapes out from the sides, darkening all or most portions of the stone.
The poor sparkle performance of Diamonds classified as Fair or Poor cut may be noticeable to the untrained eye, and are for this reason also less costly.