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
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The Creative Writing Guide: A Path to Poetry, Nonfiction, and Drama List Price: $104.20 Sale Price: $65.00 |
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This accessible, multi-genre creative writing textbook presents detailed information on the craft of writing poetry, drama, fiction, and literary non-fiction. Practical yet inspirational, the text begins with discussions of creativity and the writing process followed by coverage of the elements of literature and concrete techniques for writing in each genre... |
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Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (Prima Official Game Guide) List Price: $16.99 Sale Price: $9.54 |
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* Exclusive Poster - A large poster with exclusive Pokémon art.* Full Walkthrough with Maps - Each area of the new Sinnoh region will be comprehensively covered so players will be able to find all the new Pokémon. |
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Diamond Ring Buying Guide: How to Evaluate, Identify, and Select Diamonds & Diamond Jewelry (Newman Gem & Jewelry Series) List Price: $18.95 Sale Price: $11.72 |
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This is a full-colour book that will help you to select and evaluate diamonds and diamond jewellery. This updated edition has 140 new photographs of ring styles, coloured diamonds and contemporary diamond cuts... |
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Diamonds: The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide--how to Select, Buy, Care for & Enjoy Diamonds With Confidence And Knowledge List Price: $18.99 Sale Price: $11.79 |
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Whether you are buying a diamond for an engagement ring, anniversary, to commemorate a special moment, or for personal pleasure, today it is more important than ever to understand what you are buying. There are new shapes and cuts, fancy colours, high-tech treatments, and sophisticated frauds... |
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