The Diamond
Diamonds are often referred to as the 'King of Gems' as it holds a special place in every woman's heart. They are the only gem symbolizing royalty. Each woman feels glad and honoured to own one and may be that is why men usually gift diamond ornaments on special occasions.
Diamonds are formed in the earth's mantle at a depth of about 140 to 190 kilometres under high pressure and temperature. A raw one can appear greasy in their natural state. To bring out the beauty of the gem, it needs to undergo a number of processes. After undergoing such processes, it glitters by slacking the light and reflecting it back to the observer's eye.
Choosing a perfect diamond can be a challenging task if you are not sure of what to look for. This article can guide you on various cuts and their differences.
Diamond Cut
The practise of converting a mine rough stone into a gem through multi step process is referred as cutting a diamond and is extremely difficult and hence requires skilled cutters and specially equipped techniques. The most time consuming part in cutting is its initial analysis. Once this is done, that is processed into various stage of polishing. A diamond can be cut into various shapes and sizes, which determines the stone's elegance, sparkle and adore. Even a flawless diamond can look dim and muted if it is poorly cutted. About half of diamond's size is lost in its cutting. There is a major difference between the uncut stone and the diamond in its final and polished state. There are even cut grades ranging from Ideal, Excellent, Very good, Good, Fair and Poor, the ideal being the highest grade that produces brightest level of sparkle. There are about 3 main diamond cuts and they are briefed here:
1) Ideal Cut Diamond
Ideal cut stones are reduced to exact proportion and polished with great attention. Most skilled cutters are required to produce the valuable final product. This is the premium cut style of high quality diamond which is been carefully angled to reflect light beautifully. The ideal cut diamonds are more expensive than Deep or Shallow cut diamonds.
2) Deep Cut Diamond
Instead of reflecting the light of the top, a deep cut stone passes the light through the sides, thereby making the light reflect at a wrong angle. Since the light is lost through the sides, the deep cut stone produces minimum sparkle.
3) Shallow Cut Diamond
A shallow cut is similar to deep cut except that it passes light to the bottom of the diamond. The observer could only see a dull reflection from the gem. This is the worse cut type that is not been practised presently.
To conclude it is always good to know about this precious glittering stone before you earn one. The increased popularity in synthetic diamonds which are created artificially in the laboratory is been in use now. They look and shine very similar to the real diamonds. Hence it is always recommend to ask for diamond certification before you own one.
