The beauty of a diamond comes from its brilliance and fire, the amount of light that is returned to the viewer's eye.
It is the proportions of the Cut that unleashes an extraordinary shower of light from the rough stone into a finished diamond.
In a side by side comparison, a less expensive diamond of Excellent Cut grade will far outshine a diamond of higher
Color and Clarity with a Poor, Good or Fair Cut grade. The diagram below shows how light leaks out of inferior Cut grades.
At Diamond-Jewelry-Masters.com, all of our diamonds are guaranteed to be either Excellent or Ideal Cut grades.
While Color and Clarity are the major factors in determining the cost of a diamond, it is the Cut that breathes life, brilliance and
sparkling fire into a diamond. Only 5% of all diamonds sold are Excellent or Ideal Cut, such as ours.
Most diamonds sold at retail are Poor, Fair or Good Cut grades, and they will appear milky and lifeless compared
a diamond of Excellent or Ideal Cut.
If you know the proportions of a diamond's Cut you can calculate the return of
light, or the visual performance of any diamond. We use EGL-USA for our
diamond evaluation reports, because they include all of the necessary cut
angles to evaluate Brilliance, Fire and Scintillation of a diamond, before you
buy it. The most widely accepted tolerances for an Ideal or Excellent Cut
diamond is the AGS-0 rating shown at left. Of all the numbers, the
pavilion percentage is most important. For the greatest return of light, it
should be at or near 43.1%.
Why are so few diamonds cut to Excellent or Ideal proportions?
Since diamonds are priced by carat weight, more and more retailers are demanding that rough be cut for maximum yield.
About 70% of all diamonds on the market today are considered in the trade as "swindled cuts".
As shown below, a one carat rough stone can yield a finished diamond of Excellent proportions that is about one-half carat.
In contrast, the same one carat rough stone can also yield a finished diamond of Poor proportions that is about
three-quarter carat. Because the table is way too broad (between 63% to 70%) this swindled cut diamond will appear milky and lifeless in comparison to the Excellent Cut, but fetch a higher retail price based on it's larger carat weight.
At the end of the day, by selling this heavier but inferior diamond, the retailer gets a higher margin for his investment,
the cutter gains margin on rough yield, and it is the consumer who unwittlingly pays a higher price for a diamond of
inferior Cut proportions which result in a less beautiful diamond.
Both EGL-USA and GIA have been vocal in their objection to this common practice because (in their words)
"it is a misrepresented product" and "it creates further disturst of jewelers as a whole."
Many sightholders, when cutting diamonds, cut to supply the overwhelming demand at retail for diamonds of
maximum yeild in the market at the lowest price i,e, swindled Cuts.
With today's sophisticated computer ray tracing technology, there is never an excuse to cut a rough that yields less than
Excellent or Ideal Cut diamonds. Our website represents one of the few remaining sightholders that cuts exclusively for
diamond quality and return of light.
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