The best tool anyone can carry with them when shopping for an engagement ring is knowledge. It’s important to know what you want, but it’s not going to be easy to express that if you lack the terminology necessary to explain. As a continuation of the previous delve into diamond 101 (A Guide To Color) let’s discuss another one of the Four Cs. Cut.

Cut, not to be confused with shape, does not designate the shape that your diamond will be styled. It actually decides how much light will be reflected by your diamond. The better the cut the more sparkle.

Let’s get to know your diamond. It is comprised of 5 parts: the table, the crown, the girdle, the pavilion and the culet.

The depth of the pavilion is integral is creating the best sparkle. A diamond can fall into

any of 3 basic cut categories: ideal, shallow and deep.

Shallow Cut: A shallow cut means that the pavilion is too short. More light will escape through the sides and bottom of the diamond; it runs right through it instead of reflecting back. As a result the diamond is less sparkly and a bit dull.

Ideal Cut: The ideal cut, is well, ideal. It is cut with the perfect proportions to reflect the most light back out of the table of your diamond. The brilliance of this diamond is of the highest quality, as well as, the highest value, because during its production more of its raw material is cut away.

Deep Cut: The deep cut means that the pavilion is too long, this often causes light to be redirected to the wrong facets of the diamond allowing more light to escape. The center usually appears darker.

For more information about cuts: Jewellery Monthly and Brilliance