Super Ideal Cut Diamond

What is Cut?

Of the 4Cs, Cut is probably the most important factor. Under the hands of a master craftsman, a piece of dull diamond rough is turned into a brilliant piece of rock that we hope will help you in your proposal. (Shock her into saying 'yes'?)

The carat weight, colour and clarity of a diamond are fairly straightforward and easily determined by experienced people (or machines). Some subjectivity is involved in between grades, but not too much to warrant our concern as consumers. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for cut. Which is why I presented so much information on cut on this site.

There are 3 areas to consider when we talk about cut:

1. Polish
2. Symmetry
3. Proportions

Of the 3, proportions is the most problematic as you will soon learn.

What makes an Ideal diamond?

GIA: Excellent Cut, Excellent Symmetry, Excellent Polish
AGS: Ideal Cut, Ideal Symmetry, Ideal Polish

So what makes a super ideal diamond?

STEP 1: Finding the Super Cut

GIA:
55-57% Table
59-62% Depth
33-35 Crown angle
40.6-41 Pavillion Angle
Star Facet Minimum: 55%(refer to below)
Lower Girdle Facet minimum: 75%(refer to below)
http://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp
HCA Score must fall below 1.5

Combinations of the Star/Lower for GIA:

50/80

55/75

55/80

AGS:(remember their clarity grade is not as strict as GIA, so do check through the loupe)
All rules above must apply.
A little extra work here, AGS triple 0 may come with painted girdles, an idealscope/aset is needed here.

AVOID: Very thin/Very thick girdles, Medium/Large/Extremely Large Culets

What to see on the HCA?
Light Return: Must be Excellent
Fire: Must be Excellent
Scintillation: Excellent or Very Good(I prefer if it'd be Excellent)
Spread: Very good or Excellent(Dont worry too much about this)

STEP 2: Finding the TRUE HEARTS
Because I found the best super ideal diamond, it still does not mean it has hearts and arrows! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Yes, 90% of the time it would, but there still might be a chance there won't be. Don't be fooled by fake hearts. Make sure you find a real good one, cause what you're paying for, is the perfect symmetry.

Make sure those hearts are real nice and solid. All the hearts need to look EQUAL in size as well, Take your time to look at them, i'm sure your jeweller won't mind!

STEP 3: There are so many diamonds, how do I find a super ideal quick and fast?

Heres a check list of how to skim through and weed through diamonds as fast as possible. It's the fastest way to filter out what you are looking for in order of importance.

1. First, look for 55-57% tables + 59-62% Depths, if this is true, proceed to step 2!
2. Look at the pavillion angle, if it is 40.6-41 go to step 3!
3. Look at Crown Angle, If it is 33-35 proceed to step 4!
4. Look at the Star facet and lower girdle facet, min 55% and 75% respectively. if true, proceed step 5!
5. Calculate the HCA score! If less than 1.5 proceed step 6
6. Check Aset/Ideal/Hearts and arrow scope