YOU CAN’T COMPARE ROUND CUTS TO FANCY CUTS!

Jewelers always talk about the 4C’s: Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight.

And I’m a big fan of learning all of them, for they help you understand diamonds more and whether a diamond is good, or the price is good.

And, one of the biggest topics that I like to discuss is CUT!

For Cut really determines how much a diamond sparkles and shines.

It’s all about the CUT!

This is all fine and dandy if you’re shopping for a round stone (brilliant cut), but if you’re looking for any other cut of diamond, cut is not going to help you much.

For with fancies, THERE IS NO CUT GRADE!

Diamond cuts like the Princess, Pear, Heart, Cushion, Marquise, Radiant, Oval and the such, are NOT going to have any cut grades listed.

The only thing you’ll see is the name of the cutting style (Princess, Pear, Heart…).

Round diamonds though, have cut grades liked like: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor…

But fancy cuts have NONE!

This is because they’re fancy.

They’re not round, they don’t have the same attributes that a totally symmetrical stone would have.

You can’t compare them!

So with a fancy cut, you really won’t know if the diamond is cut well, or if it sparkles much.

They’re in a class all by themselves.

But, luckily, there are some visual clues that you can still look for, that will help you determine if a diamond faces up and sparkles…

This is what you should look for:

(All of these are listed on a GIA diamond report)

• Polish – See what the grade of the polish is (I always recommend “Excellent“!) For if it’s polished well, chances are good that it’s cut well too.
• Symmetry – Symmetry plays a huge role in the beauty of a diamond. It lets light interact with a diamond and the facets. And the better the symmetry (I again, prefer “Excellent“), then the better the proportions, patterns, angles, and percentages are. Which means, the diamond will face up and look better!
• Girdle – Look at the girdle grade. The best girdles to have are thin, medium and slightly thick. If the girdle is extremely thick, or very thin, it may not be cut so good. Or, is the girdle is uneven, like it ranges from extremely thin – extremely thick, then it’s probably a bad make. Likewise, if the girdle gets too thick, then the diamond may look lumpy and hold all the extra carat weight in the depth, which is not good!
• GIA Certification – Yes, even the certification company can be a big eye-opener. For if the stone is GIA, then changes are the diamond is decent. Poorly cut stones, or low quality diamonds are often certified by a cheaper diamond report, which is EGL or IGI. So look for GIA, it can help you decide if the diamond is a good buy.

These 3 things can really help you when you’re shopping for fancy cuts.

But there is one better way…

Your vision!

For with fancy cuts, they are all going to look different. They’re all different proportions, angles, depths, and shapes… So it makes comparing them nearly impossible.

But if you look at the stone under a Microscope or a 10x Jeweler’s Loupe, and also look at the stone with your own eyes, you’ll be able to see if a diamond is dark and dull and lifeless, or if it’s sparkling like crazy.

That’s the real test!

Because fancies don’t get cut grades…

But at least they’re always cheaper than rounds (usually by 20-50%), which is a pretty good trade-off to me.

Check out some KILLER DEALS on Cushion Cuts HERE!

Cheers! :)