Diamond Cuts

How Diamonds are Cut?

In their most natural form, diamonds are – well – quite ugly. They have no luster or shine, and in fact, look like nothing more than broken glass. A diamond must be cut, and then polished before it actually becomes a thing of beauty.

Various Diamond Cuts

Diamonds are cut with saws, into round shapes. From the rounded shape, other shapes may be cut, such as heart shapes – but the shape is less important than the quality of the cutting that is being done. If the diamond is poorly cut, it will lose light, and it will not sparkle and shine very well.

Each facet of the diamond must be carefully cut into the geometrical shapes that allow the diamond to sparkle and shine, then the entire diamond is cut into a specific shape, such as an emerald cut or a princess cut diamond.

Emerald Cut Diamond

Originally designed for cutting emeralds, the emerald cut was soon proven to be effective in cutting other precious stones, including diamonds. Emerald cut is known for its stunning beauty and elegance. Being one of less known diamond cuts, emerald cut also tends to be less expensive than other better known diamond cuts.

Princess Cut Diamond

The princess cut diamond is a square cut, with pointed corners. These 4 corners are usually shaped to be rectangular, to avoid them chipping. While other square or rectangular shape diamonds don't sparkle as much, princess cut diamonds give best sparkle brilliance. This makes princess cut diamond one of the best known and most trendy diamond cuts.

Once the cut is done, the diamond is put into a dop, which resembles a cup with another diamond – only a diamond is strong enough to smooth the edges of another diamond. Once the diamond has been cut and shaped, and had the edges smoothed in the dop, it is polished on a scaif or a diamond polishing wheel.