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The one thing that I feel has been misrepresented the most is the term "IDEAL CUT". There are many companies which claim to have the ideal cut nailed, but in fact there is a range for optimum potential of the diamond's brilliance and beauty. In Modern Jeweler a few months back there was an article which quoted the chairman of the GIA and Lazare Kaplan, when they basically said there was a wide range for maximizing the diamond's potential.

I'd like to share today what my observations are, based on thirty years in Jewelry and diamonds. My observations will concentrate on the round brilliant cut... Practical information you can actually use... AGS (000) is the definition, by the world's leading independent gemologicial laboratory, past that is subject counter-speak. ...But just because it is just outside of the AGS (000) range does not mean it is a lessor diamond at all. Knowledge is power, and half truths can be used to upsell you or tilt your decision.

The round brilliant cut is really designed to provide maximum optics for the brilliance and scintillation, making the light seem to sparkle and dance in the light. All other cuts are somewhat of a compromise in beauty and brilliance. Does that on the surface mean that the only diamond to consider is an ideal cut??? Not at all, it's just that if you want a true ideal cut diamond that subscribes to the specs of the AGS (000) that assures perfection, if you want a great diamond that will excite and delight the other half then a diamond out to a 60% table might well be perfect in your world, and should not be considered a lessor diamond.

If your pocketbook dictates that you need to cut costs you can do that in the "just outside the ideal range" safely, and well... Don't let others scare you into thinking otherwise, for that is another retail trick designed to make it seem they have the keys to knowledge. You have those yourself folks, unless you choose to give that power away that is. Here's what constitutes the AGS ideal range for each line item.

The most common, and most "brilliant", diamond cut is the Brilliant Cut, a.k.a. the Round Cut, American Ideal Cut, or American Standard Cut. Back at the turn of the century, Marcel Tolkowsky, a member of a large and powerful diamond family, calculated the cuts necessary to create the ideal diamond shape. As part of his PhD thesis in mathematics, Tolkowsky considered variables such as index of refraction and covalent bond angles to describe what has become known as the brilliant cut. This is by far my favorite cut, having the brilliance and fire that no other cut really approaches. A large table (over 64%) can really kill the diamond's beauty, and a stone which it too shallow will also "die optically"... Where a great place to be is in the 58.5-63% depth and a table size in the mid fifties, but to about 61.5%, which you can do safely for beauty.

The AGS defines "Ideal Cut" as a range of Table diameters between 53-57.5%, Crown Angles at 34-35%, Crown Height at 15-16.5%, Girdle Thickness at Thin-Medium-slightly thick, Pavilion Angle of 41% with the Pavilion depth at 43-43.5%... Culet at Very Small/None with total depth at 58.5-63% for their cut grade of ideal... We're talking perfect alignment of the crown and pavilion facets, strict symmetry and a mirror like polish... "No polishing lines or wheel burns need apply"... Modern Jewelers magazine has a great article this month on Ideal cuts...

Various cutters have slightly varied definitions of the ideal cut, but if you keep the table size in the mid-fifties and depth between 58-63% you will have a fantastic diamond, and look. I've often said that if the consumer remembers that they have a solid basic understanding to avoid off cuts and poorly cut stone... With certificates and lab reports you are able to completely qualify a diamond you are considering, minus all the sales hype and junk... Don't give the power of understanding away, it will cost you. I wished that GIA gave the more complete dates for diamond in their lab reports, like crown height and pavilion depth, but I'm sure that they will find it necessary to revise their format soon now that AGS is offering a more complete report. The AGS graded diamond are given a "Cut Grade", and makes your life so much easier :)

Do not rule out a great well priced diamond on the premise that some net-bonehead born-again retailer told you that you had to buy ideal cuts. That is simply not true at all, all diamonds tend to be a compromise, not everyone wants a "D-Flawless Ideal Cut". I think that those who try to frighten folks into thinking that only the brand named"Hearts and Arrows cuts" are worth having does the world a major disservice. Like Bill Clinton redefining the word "is", some say that you might get stuck with "Only a Plain Old AGS (000) Ideal cut" if you don't buy the specific hearts and arrows cut... That is dingo's kidneys folks...

"Screwy Cuts" are discounted heavily they are also much less beautiful as well, so make sure you are comparing apples to apples... Stones with deeper cuts, or larger tables will all be hugely discounted, but you can be sure that if you conform to a narrow range of specs we've discussed here that you will do very well. Diamond are discounted for poor cuts, with table sizes over 64%, but in truth up to about 60% tables produce a great look, sheer beauty and often a value that makes it possible to purchase. I really like some stones which have table sizes up to 60-61%, and often times the very slight visual difference between an AGS (000) ideal cut and a beautiful diamond, with a slightly fuller depth or table size just out of range, is practically nil, when the price difference can be vast...

Beauty to me is taking the five C's into harmony, cut, color, carat, clarity and "cost"... While I really like the table sizes in the lower to mid fifties I'm a sucker for a high fifties/lower sixties table on a well cut stone, this is why I coined my 60%/60% rule, if you just remember that you are well on the way to a massively brilliant diamond and a very pleasing effect. So, when someone wells you that there is a magic set of numbers they are quite simply wrong, for it is indeed a broad range of specs that quality as a beautifully optimized diamond...
A diamond's beauty is unlocked by the cut, not the sale babble!