The Four C's -
Cut
Continued
The modern round brilliant cut has fifty-seven 57) facets (polished faces) with thirty-three (33) facets on the Crown (the top half) and twenty-four (24) on the Pavillion the lower half). The "Girdle" is the thin middle portion usually 1% - 2% of the diameter required to prevent the diamond from easily chipping in the setting. The Crown disperses light into various colors and the Pavillion reflects light that enters the gemstone back out through the Crown of the diamond. The "culet" is a tiny point or facet at the bottom of the Pavillion. It should be very small to prevent light from escaping from the bottom.
When a diamond is cut correctly, the entire Pavallion is turned into a mirror. If the cut is too shallow or too deep, the gemstone will look "lifeless," even if it is of the highest quality, because light is escaping out of the Pavillion, See illustrations:
The cut of the diamond is vital to its overall worth, because a poor cut diamond with the exact same quality grade as an "ideal" cut diamond can be 30% lower in value.
The GIA Standards for "cut" are:
Class 1: Ideal
Class 2: Very Fine
Class 3: Fair, and
Class 4: Poor
Carat (weight) |
Color |
Clarity | Cut |
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