Worths Diamonds

Cut is about much more than just the shape of your diamond. It's about the angles, proportion, symmetry and polish that affect how a diamond handles light.

The diamond-cutter must place each of the stone's facets and angles, which act as light-reflecting mirrors, in exact geometric relation to each other.

On Classic round brilliant-cut diamonds, for instance, about 58 facets must be perfectly aligned.

To maximise its potential, a well-cut stone must be carefully and precisely crafted. All the facets are exactly where they should be and polished until they gleam. It must have the right proportions, precise symmetry and a fine polish. Diamond dealers refer to this as "make". It's the only thing about a diamond's quality that can be controlled by man. Whether you choose an emerald cut, an oval, a marquise, or any other diamond shape, a well-cut diamond will reflect light back evenly in the face up position, with no dark areas. It returns the maximum amount of light to the eye as brilliance. It also displays dispersion or fire. These are spectral colours of light that add richness to its sparkle.

The most popular diamond shape is the Round Brilliant, which is also the most standardised cut as it always has a round outline. Fancy shape diamonds vary in their outline, since the cutter shapes each one individually to suit the shape of the rough.