In their most natural form, diamonds are – well – quite ugly. They have no luster or shine,  and in fact, look like nothing more than broken glass. A diamond must be cut, and then polished before it actually becomes a thing of beauty.

Diamonds are cut with saws, into round shapes. From the rounded shape, other shapes may be cut, such as heart shapes – but the shape is less important than the quality of the cutting that is being done.

If the diamond is poorly cut, it will lose light, and it will not sparkle and shine very well.

Each facet of the diamond must be carefully cut into the geometrical shapes that allow the diamond to sparkle and shine, then the entire diamond is cut into a specific shape, such as an emerald cut or a princess cut diamond.

Once the cut is done, the diamond is put into a dop, which resembles a cup with another diamond – only a diamond is strong enough to smooth the edges of another diamond.

Once the diamond has been cut and shaped, and had the edges smoothed in the dop, it is polished on a scaif or a diamond polishing wheel.

The most popular cut for a diamond ring today is still the round, brilliant diamonds cut. It was developed in the 17th century in Venice. It is still preferred when the raw crystal is in an octahedron formation.

Even though as much as 50% of the stone is cut away in the process, often two stones can be carved from an octahedron.

More unusually-shaped stones are used for fancy cuts, such as a marquise, pear or heart-shaped diamond. The earliest brilliants had 17 facets on the top of the stone and were called double-cut. This was soon improved with stones cut with 33 facets and were called triple-cut brilliants.

There are now cuts such as the princess cut, trillions, ovals, pear and heart-shaped. Some innovative cutters have even fashioned star or butterfly-shaped diamonds! One patented diamond cut, the Ashoka diamond, is an oblong cut with rounded, brilliant ends, and requires a stone 3 carats or larger.

It’s an exceptionally beautiful (and pricey!) diamond shape. Tiffany has also patented a cut of diamond called the Lucida cut. It’s the lucky bride whose fiancé gives her one of these highly coveted stones!

Books about Diamond Cut

	Diamond Ring Buying Guide: How to Evaluate, Identify, and Select Diamonds & Diamond Jewelry (Newman Gem & Jewelry Series) List Price: $18.95 Sale Price: $12.76
	Buying a diamond ring may be one of the most important jewelry-related decisions you will ever make. The Diamond Ring Buying Guide was designed to help you get the best buy possible. Written in clear, everyday English, with lots of color photos, the book shows you step-by-step how to evaluate diamonds and settings...

	HOW TO BUY YOUR DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING AT THE MALL (The Practical Approach) List Price: $2.99
	Buying your engagement ring at the mall is much more convenient than buying online. This book is designed to help you select the most brilliant diamond engagement ring possible for the least amount of money...

	Practical Evaluation Guide: Tools for Museums and Other Informal Educational Settings (American Association for State and Local History) List Price: $29.95 Sale Price: $22.04
	Administrators of museums and other informal-learning centers often need to demonstrate, in some tangible way, the effectiveness of their institutions as teaching tools. Practical Evaluation Guide discusses specific methods for analyzing audience learning and behavior in museums, zoos, botanic gardens, nature centers, camps, and youth programs...

	Diamond Handbook: A Practical Guide to Diamond Evaluation (Newman Gem & Jewelry Series) List Price: $19.95 Sale Price: $12.46
	This handbook updates jewellery professionals and serious diamond buyers on the new developments in diamond grading, treatments, synthetic diamonds, fancy-colour diamonds and lab certificates. Using close-up photographs, it shows how to make visual judgements about clarity, transparency, cut quality and brilliance...

	Fast2cut Half & Quarter-Diamond Ruler Set: Companion to Fussy Cutter Ruler Set 45 Degree Diamond Guide List Price: $25.95 Sale Price: $15.65
	Created by Jan Krentz. Versatile rulers help you cut half- and quarter-diamonds for stars and kaleidoscopes with greater speed and precision than ever before.

	Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula: A Practical Guide (CourseSmart) List Price: $48.00 Sale Price: $31.00
	Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula reflects the most current knowledge and practice in course and curriculum design and connects this knowledge with the critical task of assessing learning outcomes at both course and curricular levels...

	Instant Psychopharmacology: A Guide for the Nonmedical Mental Health Professional List Price: $18.95 Sale Price: $11.99
	This ideal handbook is a must-have for all nonmedical therapists, clients, and family members seeking to educate themselves about the essentials of psychopharmacology.A revision of our best-selling brief guide to all the new medications, this straightforward, easy-to-understand book teaches nonmedical therapists, clients, and clients' families how different psychotropic drugs work...