Diamond Cut

The art of cutting a diamond has evolved since mankind embarked on creating jewelry with it. It certainly isn't easy to work with this raw material; the diamond was once more respected for its hardness over its ability to reflect light. The point cut was the first consistent cut found in jewelry and documented in the roman civilization. What you may find interesting about the point cut, is that the diamond wasn't actually cut - the debris was removed from the sides and the diamond was set in its natural form - which happened to be a point. The first actual diamond cut trend was the table cut, this began the evolution of cuts that would reflect light better and better. Here is quick chart of the historical advances in diamond cutting to better reflect light.

Over time a common desired proportion has been determined to deliver the greatest reflection of light, or sparkle. Today, some diamonds are closer to that correct proportion than others. Many times it wasn't a flaw of diamond cutter, it was simply a choice to best optimize the raw mineral that he or she received. Out of the 4'c the cut is the most difficult for a consumer to judge when selecting a good diamond. This is because some certificates will not show the important measurements influencing cut (such as the pavilion angle and crown angle) and will not provide a subjective ranking of how good the cut was. It's worth having a trained gemologist to help show you the differences of performance between light and different cuts. The chart below demonstrates how light flows through the round brilliant cut and how light performs based on the fluctuations in proportions and the more you learn about diamonds, the easier it will be to recognize the distinction.

Hearts & Arrows Cut - Less than 1% of cut graded diamonds possess hearts and arrows. There are less the 100 diamond cutters in the world that can even perform the feat the cut. The cut is so perfect that you can see hearts and arrows when looking into the diamond. Those are only viewable in Windsor; they are not included in our online diamond search.

Excellent Cut - About 3% of cut graded diamonds are an excellent cut. Quite rare, these diamonds reflect over 90 percent of the light that enters the diamond. They are truly magnificent and they visually glow with light.

Very Good Cut - It's estimated that less than 15% of cut graded diamonds can be assigned the cut grade of a "very good" graded diamond. This diamond reflects light almost as well as an Excellent Cut; the only difference is the price.

Good Cut - When it comes labeling cut graded diamonds as "Good", roughly 25% are considered as such. The diamond gives great performance with a significant price drop from the Very Good Cut. It is also a common thought the Good Cut holds the most price to value.

Fair Cut - The light that is reflected from a fair cut is easily noticeable when compared to upper level cuts. Over a third of all cut grade diamonds are Fair Cut. It's wise advice that the difference is less noticeable on .75ct stones and smaller. The stone gives pretty good performance and may be good for you as long as you aren't obsessive compulsive with a microscope.

Poor Cut - Windsor generally doesn't show Poor Cut diamonds. They easily lose light on the sides and bottom, these would be because they are too deep, narrow or shallow. We do have a couple on hand and that are great for comparison but they typically do not perform well and are noticeably less brilliant.