DY Jewels - Fine gold and diamond jewelry

Many people confuse cut with the shape of a diamond. Most diamonds are cut with a full 58 facets, and a good cut, or make, has more scintillation, more sparkle. The shape of the diamond, however, is largely a matter of personal preference and does not affect the value per se. It is the work of a master cutter that allows the diamond to be cut in such a way as to permit the maximum amount of light to be reflected through the diamond, and that's a great reflection on you. It is the cut that enables a diamond to make the best use of light. For more about the cut of our diamonds, please see the next section below.

1. When a diamond is cut to good proportions, light is reflected from one facet to another and then dispersed through the top of the stone.

2. If the cut of the diamond is too deep, some light escapes through the opposite side of the pavilion.

3. If the cut is too shallow, light escapes through the pavilion before it can be reflected.

Unlike other online merchants, we will disclose the cut, as well as the color and clarity. The cut is most often the hardest attribute of diamonds to measure and often the most overlooked. It can make a very large difference in price and brilliance, so one should scrutinize any diamond purchase to ensure a high quality cut. Be weary of merchants who do not provide details on the cut of the diamonds.

All round brilliant cut diamonds have certain proportions that determine the quality of their cut. The girdle is the portion of the diamond that is held when it is set in jewelry. The cutlet is the point in the bottom. You don't want the cutlet to have a large flat area, but this isn't too much of concern. The main concern is the proportions of the table width, crown height and pavilion depth as a percentage against the total diameter (or girdle diameter). Please see the graph below.

Why is this so important? Because if your diamond is cut too shallow, the diamond will be "flatter" and you will lose light through the sides of the stone. If it is cut too deep, the diamond will be elongated. This is worse, for two reasons. You still lose the light, but the diamond looks smaller than it should be (since carat weight is a measure of weight not size). So rather than "cutting off the fat" on the bottom of the diamond, the cutter leaves it on so it will weigh (and cost) more. The images below show what happens when your diamond is cut too shallow, ideal, or too deep.

Shallow Cut	Ideal Cut	Deep Cut

Notice how the the light shines back intensely in the ideal cut, where as the shallow and deep cuts have losses through the bottom of the diamond. This is why they do not shine back as intensely.

So what is Ideal? Everyone has their own opinion on what Ideal is. Some people prefer a diamond to have a somewhat larger table, say around 60%, so the diamond "looks" bigger, some want the Tolkowsky Ideal cut, as calculated in the early 20th century by mathematician Markov Tolkowsky. The diagram below describes the Class 1 and 2 grades of GIA. They are the largest body in the world for diamond grading, and we use their classifications to grade our diamonds. Class 1 is Ideal. Class 2 is Very Fine, Class 3 is Fair, and Class 4 is Poor. We do not sell Class 3 or 4 diamonds. All diamonds we sell that are 0.50ct or larger on this web site fall into the GIA's definition of "Ideal - Very Fine" Class, and are as follows:

Please keep in mind that diamonds other than round brilliant do not always have their cuts measured in such detail because they are classified as "fancy cut" diamonds and have very loose tolerances. For more information regarding our "fancy cut" diamond specifications, please contact us.

So whether you get our diamond graded by GIA, EGL, HRD, GAA, Gemscan or any other gemological laboratory, your diamond specifications will be as stated on the Megascope Report, which are guaranteed to be within the specifications stated above. The scope does not lie!