The most
important factors in choosing a diamond stone is deciding on the shape that
perfectly matches your style and looks beautiful on you.
Types of
Diamond Cut-
Cutting a
diamond is no simple matter; it takes precision and skill to cut the rough
diamond in a way that will ensure maximum diamond brilliance and sparkle. It all began back in the 15th century when
diamond cutters first started to explore the best way to cut a diamond. Prior to that, diamond cutting involved
chipping away at the stone to form some semblance of a shape. Cutting skills have now been perfected;
modern cutting techniques are incredibly advanced and much is now known about
the various types of diamond cut.
Three
Types of Diamond Cut
There are
three ways to achieve a cut diamond; each of these cutting methods leads to
particular diamond shapes. They are the
brilliant cut, the step cut and the mixed cut.
- Brilliant cut Diamonds
The most
popular cut is the brilliant cut, famed for its sharp corners and triangular
facets. Called the brilliant cut for a
good reason; it leads to the maximum diamond brilliance. The archetypical brilliant cut is the round
brilliant cut which has exactly 58 facets, the optimal number for the most
efficient light return. Diamond shapes
which use a modified version of the brilliant cut are referred to as modified
brilliant cuts they are:
- Oval Shaped Diamond – A
longer and narrower version of the round brilliant cut.
- Marquise Shaped Diamond –
Similar to the oval shape, it’s an elongated version of the round shape
but with more pointed ends. A great
shape for making your figures appear long and thin.
- Pear Shaped Diamond – Can
have a range of different proportions but will usually contain 58
facets. It’s similar to the oval
and marquise shapes but has soft rounded edges.
- Heart Shaped Diamond –
The most romantic shape option; forming this shape accurately can be
difficult. To ensure diamond
brilliance the lobes must be totally symmetrical.
- Trilliant Shaped
diamond – A triangular shaped diamond that are usually used as sides
stones to enhance larger center stones.
2.
Step Cut Diamonds
Step cuts diamonds may have less diamond brilliance than
brilliant cut diamonds but they are usually have better clarity. The cut is famed for resulting in elegant
diamond shapes. Often favoured by royalty.
The facets, which tend to be larger than in a brilliant cut diamonds,
are arranged so that they are parallel to the girdle in a design reminiscent of
steps, hence the name.
- Emerald
Cut – A rectangular shaped diamond with a large and open table that provides
extra clarity.
- Baguette Cut – Most often used as a stone, the baguette’s
role is usually to accentuate a larger center stone.
- Asscher Cut – An octagonal shape that incorporates the
1920’s and 1930’s art deco jewellery style.
3. Mixed Cut Diamonds
A mixed cut attempts to incorporate some of the
features of the brilliant cut and combine it with features of the step
cut. In most cases the crown in cut in a
step cut style and the pavilion is cut using a brilliant cut. The result of this innovative technique that
was developed in the 1960’s is the princess shaped diamond, the second most
popular diamond shape.
- Princess Cut – A square or rectangular diamond shape, very
popular with diamond cutters because more of the rough diamond can be used,
that means less wastage and a cheaper price per carat weight.
- Radiant Cut – its official name is the cut cornered
rectangular modified brilliant, the radiant can be either square or
rectangular. It combines with brilliance
of the round cut with the elegance of the emerald cut.
Tips to help you choose your Diamond-
1) Consider your number one priority, if it’s the appearance
of the shape then choose a shape you like the best, if maximizing the fire and
sparkle is your priority then stick to the most popular round cut diamond.
2) If budget is an issue, consider the princess cut because
it uses more of the rough diamond, making an equivalent quality diamond
cheaper.
3) The oval and pear shape will appear a lot larger than an
equivalent carat weight of other shaped diamonds.
4) Radiant cut
diamonds tend to make any colour in the diamond look brighter; this is great
for colour diamonds but not so good for colourless diamonds.
Types of diamond
Pink Diamonds
The pink diamond is the world's most rare and valuable
diamond.The Argyle mine is the world's foremost source of unrivalled intense
pink diamonds, producing 95% of the world's supply. However, an extremely small
proportion of Argyle Diamonds production is Pink colour, in fact less than one
tenth of 1% is classified Pink.
T he legend of Argyle pink diamond has grown over the past
ten years. At the 1989 Christie's auction in New York a 3.14 carat Argyle pink
sold for $1,510,000. Privately, Argyle has sold pink diamonds for up to $1
million a carat.
For years the white diamond was considered the world's most
beautiful diamond, until the discovery of the Argyle mine heralded the arrival
of the Argyle pink diamond. Never before had pink diamonds displaying such
intense shades of colour been seen. The pink diamonds of India, Brazil and
Africa were characteristically light in colour and paled even further when
placed beside the intensely pink Argyle diamonds. The natural colour diamonds
have in fact been around as long as the classical whites but in much smaller
quantities and never in great demand.
The Argyle pink diamond comes in shades ranging from
delicate pastel rose to robust raspberry and full-blooded purple-reds. The
prices per carat are determined by the intensity of colour. Argyle selects only
its most vibrant pink diamonds for polishing at its head office in Perth.
There, the stones are polished in a wide range of cuts, such as round
brilliant, marquise, oval and pear, to enhance their natural beauty. Polished
pink diamonds are available in the same size ranges as traditional commercial
sizes.
White Diamonds
White diamonds are produced by mines all over the world in a
wide variety of shapes and sizes.The white diamonds recovered from the Argyle
mine are particularly brilliant and of high quality.
Champagne Diamonds
Champagne diamonds are naturally coloured diamonds that are
produced in a wide range of colours from light straw to rich cognac.
The 4C's of colour, cut, clarity and carat weight apply to
coloured diamonds just as they do to colourless diamonds except the intensity
of colour, not lack of it, plays a greater part in the valuation.
Pink Champagne Diamonds
Attractive champagne diamonds with secondary pink colour are
also available and command a higher price per carat than champagne diamonds.
These stones display slight to bold flashes of pink in their fire.
Argyle Pink Champagne Diamonds are available in three ranges
of shades, from light pink champagne to medium and dark pink champagne.
As pink is one of the rarest colours found in diamonds, even
secondary colours demand a higher price depending on depth and strength of
colour.
Yellow Diamonds
Fancy yellow diamonds come in a broad range of shades
ranging from light yellow to a rich canary colour.
A limited quantity of fancy yellow diamonds is recovered
from the Argyle mine.
Blue Diamonds
Fancy blue diamonds are available in a wide range of shades,
from the blue of the sky to a more "steely" colour than sapphire.
Limited quantities of fancy blue diamonds are recovered from
the Argyle mine.
Green Diamonds
Fancy green diamonds are also available.
Usually, penetration of the colour is not very deep and is often removed during
the fashioning of the stone.
Diamond Simulants-
Cubic Zirconia
Cubic Zirconia (CZ) is the most commonly encountered diamond
simulant. All commercial CZ is formed in laboratories however, it is also found
in nature. In both its synthetic and natural forms, CZ is colourless but colour
can be introduced. A thermal pen tester can quickly and easily detect CZ.
Synthetic moissanite
Synthetic moissanite is a new diamond simulant to join the
long list of products that imitate diamonds. Although moissanite is being
marketed as a new unique, synthetic gemstone, some of its properties are close
enough to those of diamonds to lead to confusion in the trade.
Natural moissanite was first identified in a meteorite
crater at the beginning of the twentieth century however, most is produced
synthetically as natural moissanite is very rare. Chemically, it is 'silicon
carbide', also known as 'carborundum', which is widely used for abrasive
purposes and for use in the electronics industry.
Synthetic moissanite is a diamond simulant like
Cubic Zirconia however, it can be passed as a diamond by the widely used
thermal pen testers because it has similar thermal characteristics to diamonds.
However, it can be easily identified by other methods.
