• Cut • Color • Clarity • Carat Weight "Cut" The term by itself carries several different meanings. Some will refer to cut as the shape of the diamond (e.g. round, oval, pear, etc.), some to the style (e.g. single cut, full cut, brilliant cut), and proportions or finish of the diamond (e.g. large or small table, deep or shallow pavilions, symmetrical facets, polishing marks, etc). Cut is technically the relationship of the parts of the diamond that make the whole. These parts consist of the table, pavilion, crown, girdle and culet. Each of these parts has a certain responsibility in the refraction (breaking of white light into the spectral colors, remember ROYGBIV in high school) and reflection of light (the light that enters the diamond and reflects back out). "Ideal Cut" There are actually 14 different versions of the ideal cut. Goodman and Sons recognizes the "American Ideal" by the American Gem Society as the parameters for our ideal cut diamond. An ideal cut diamond is said to have the best balance between brilliance (white light return) and dispersion (the white light broken into spectral colors, remember ROYGBIV, isn't great we remembered something from high school). If an ideal cut has the best balance between brilliance and dispersion, then what do the other cuts represent? They can represent very similar amounts of light return to almost no light return. The table facet, the largest facet on a diamond, allows for the most white light return while the crown angles allow for the most dispersion of the diamond. Altering the size of the table will change the percentage of brilliance in comparison to the dispersion. In other words, the larger the table the more brilliance and less dispersion, the smaller the table the less brilliance and the more dispersion. This provides a broad overview of why the ideal cut offers the best balance between the two. There is a margin of error in this brief statement of how brilliance and dispersion work together, but unless you want to buy a diamond through mathematical theorems and proofs this is the easiest way to understand the relationship. Every professional in the jewelry industry believes that an ideal cut diamond is a beautiful diamond, however, there are often arguments as to what makes the best diamond cut. Round diamonds have 57 to 58 facets. How well these facets line up and how well each facet is polished add to the diamonds beauty. Polish and symmetry can range from poor to excellent. An American Gem Society ideal cut must have "ideal" symmetry and polish or in other words, excellent symmetry and polish. This grading is used by viewing the diamond under 10x magnification. Unless the symmetry and polish are poor and in some cases fair, the average eye will not notice the slight differences that make up good to excellent symmetry. However, like everything else with a diamond the slight differences will make a difference in the overall rarity of a diamond and do indiscreetly enhance its beauty. On to Color