Diamond Cuts and Grades

Diamonds come in all shapes, colors, forms, and sizes and they have different characteristics and qualities.

They are graded by their cut, color, clarity, cleavage, quality, and other standards. Since each diamond is graded individually, the price of individual gemstones can vary substantially.

A diamond's value can be determined and controlled by international standards, making it relatively easy for the average consumer to compare prices.

Prices of diamonds and other gemstones are usually determined by a unit of weight known as their "carat" and usually, the more carats, the higher the price.

Although the carat is the standard unit of weight, other measurements are sometimes used such as points, mele, and metric carats.

Diamonds are usually cut in one of three categories, the faceted cut, the plain cut, and the mixed cut.

• The faceted cut is used mostly for transparent diamonds.
• The plain cut is used on agate or opaque stones.
• The mixed cut is a combination of faceted cuts and plain cuts.

Using the three basic cuts, diamonds can be made square, round, oval, rectangular, triangular, or any of several other shapes or forms.

The brilliant cut, developed around the early 1900's, brought the diamond to perfection and is used in several variations such as parker brilliant, fine cut brilliant, and ideal brilliant.

Grading for color is important in the diamond business because diamonds are formed in many different colors.

The most common is yellow but diamonds are found in different hues of blue, pink, green, red, orange, purple, gray, black, and transparent to opaque.

The grading helps determine the clarity of gemstones from whether they are considered to be flawless, fine, good, very good, medium or poor in quality.

Some of the most famous diamonds in the world are the Hope, the Cullinan or Star of Africa, the Nassak, the Shah, the Sancy, and the Dresden. But there are many, many, more that are owned by investment groups, collectors, museums, and ordinary individuals.

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