Round, Princess, Oval, Pear, Marquise, Heart, Baguette and Emerald Cut Diamond Shapes
Diamond Cutting:
To bring out the beauty of a emerald cut diamond, for a example, a number of processes are necessary. These processes, which include cleaving, sawing, cutting, and polishing, are usually known collectively as diamond cutting. The primary object of diamond cutting is to bring out the fire and brilliance of the stone; equally important, however, is the cutting of the stone according to a plan that will eliminate imperfections, such as cracks, flaws, and cloudiness, and will produce a gem of the greatest size, best appearance, and hence maximum value.
The rough diamond is marked with lines of india ink as a guide for the later operations. The stone is then firmly cemented into a wooden holder and the holder firmly mounted in a vise. The cutter holds a cleaving iron, an instrument like a heavy, blunt knife, on the line and parallel to the cleavage plane of the diamond. The stone is cleft by striking the iron with a light blow of a hammer. The tools used for cleaving are simple, but skill is needed in their use because too hard a blow applied in the wrong direction may ruin the stone. In present-day practice diamonds are sawed more often than they are cleaved. The saw is a thin metal disk, the edge of which is impregnated with a mixture of diamond dust and oil.
The final step in the cutting of a diamond, called polishing, consists of forming the facets of the finished stone. For the polishing process the gem is held firmly in a mount called a dop.
Diamonds are most often cut in the form of brilliants with a total of 58 facets. Facets are formed on a flat, horizontally revolving cast-iron wheel that is charged with a mixture of diamond dust and oil. The stone in its dop is held against the surface until the facet is formed. In the course of polishing, the stone is moved many times in its dop to present new surfaces to be polished.
Round Brilliant -- The modern classic for cut diamonds. 58 facets offer great brilliance and stability. The term "Ideal Cut" refers to the attempt to cut a Round Diamond into the best proportions to achieve maximum brilliance. Marquise -- The name "Marquise" came from a legend of the French Marquise of Pompadour that the Sun King wanted a Diamond to be polished into the shape of the mouth of the Marquise. The brilliant style marquise, with its distinctive pointed oval form make this shape the most fragile and the most expensive of brilliant style cuts. Oval -- The Oval Shaped Brilliant was invented by Lazare Kaplan in the early 1960s. Although elliptical, it has excellent light dispersal like the round, but its shape may make it look larger than a round diamond of the same weight and quality. Princess -- A very attractive, relatively new diamond cut. Remarkably lovely and eye catching, this diamond shape is very popular right now, especially in "invisible" settings. Heart -- The Heart Shaped Brilliant is very similar to the Pear Shape, except that there is a cleft at the top. A very special and romantic shape, full of fire and brilliance like the round and the marquise. Pear -- A combination of a Round brilliant and a Marquise cut. The pear shape has one pointed end, cut to maximize brilliance like the round brilliant. Pendants look very nice set with a Pear shape as do earrings, due to the "Teardrop" shape. Baguette -- These small, rectangular diamonds are cut to fill in channels, or stable grooved tracks, around a gemstone centerpiece. Baguettes are mostly used to create dramatic contemporary looks for rings and pendants.
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The first step in cutting a diamond is the careful examination of the stone. During the course of this examination the expert cutter determines the cleavage planes of the diamond and decides how the stone can best be divided by cleaving and sawing.
