Emerald Cut Diamonds

Diamonds, Diamonds, Diamonds. . The word diamond comes from the Greek word which means invincible. Diamonds are the hardest material found on the surface of the earth. Whenever someone thinks of diamonds, you seem to remember a colorless stone shining with excellent brilliance. Diamonds are classified according to their cuts and they are:

Round
Emerald
Ascher
Princess
Heart
Oval
Marquise
Pear
Radiant
Cushion

What is a Diamond Cut?

Cut of the diamond does not refer to its shape. It is the proportions of the diamond such as its depth, width and uniformity of facets, all these factors control the brilliance, durability and other features of a diamond. It is the Cut that gives the brilliance and sparkle to the diamonds. Diamonds with outstanding colour and clarity without a good cut do not sparkle.

Different Types of Cuts

A Diamond that reflects all the light that enters it is said to have an exquisite and rate cut such a cut is called Ideal and it represents the top 3% of the diamonds quality.

A Diamond that reflects as much light as an ideal cut but costs much lower than the ideal cut is called a Very Good Cut. This cut represents top 15% of the diamond quality.

Good Cut reflects most the light that enters but is less expensive than a very good cut. It represents the top 15% of the diamond quality.

Fair Cut does not have the brilliance of a good cut yet it is considered as a quality diamond and represents roughly the top 35% of the diamond quality.

Poor Cut diamonds are deep and narrow or wide and shallow and loose our most of the light on the sides and bottom. Such diamonds are not used by quality diamond jewelers.

History of Diamond Cutting

From the mines the diamonds generally looks like a lusterless, translucent crystal. They should be cut and polished to achieve the brilliance that we see in the jewels.

In the early 15th Century there were no machines used to cut the diamonds. The primitive method of transformation of the rough stones into diamonds was done by hand. The diamonds were cleaved by placing a chisel on the stone's weakest point and striking with a mallet. If the pressure was applied to a wrong point on the rough stone the diamond would shatter. After cleaving the stone was placed in an egg shaped tin cup called dop and the imperfections of the diamond was removed by hitting it with another diamond, this process is called bruting.

At the end of 15th Century a Jewish diamond cutter named invented the scaif a machine used to cut diamonds. The scaif had a polishing wheel impregnated with olive oil and diamond dust, the diamond dust ground away the diamond into desired shapes which reflected maximum light. The next invention in diamond cutting is the saw which could work against the grains of the diamond without shattering it.

The final refinement in the cutting process came with the invention of a formula by Marcel Tolkowsky. This formula gave the optimum ratio between the angles of facets opposing one another in a diamond to achieve the maximum refraction of light which was otherwise done by trial and error and intuition methods.

What is the Emerald Cut?

Diamond in the shape of rectangle with cut corners is called Emerald Cut. It is also called as Step Cut because the facets are broad like the steps of a stair. The Emerald cut is obviously not much preferred because the inclusions or tiny fragments of other metal trapped inside the diamond are clearly visible in this cut. Besides the Emerald Cut has less clarity than the others cuts.

Significance of Emerald Cut Diamonds

Emerald cut diamonds signifies royalty. Any diamond with this style of cut is generally costlier than the others because of lesser inclusions in them.

How to Choose Emerald Cut?

Emerald cut diamonds should be choosen with great care because the table of the diamond is too wide it highlights the clarity of the diamond. The length to width ratio determines how the diamond will look like from the top. For classic emerald cuts The length to width ratio has to be between 1.40 to 1.30.

Use of Emerald Cut Diamonds in Jewellery

Rings- Emerald cut diamonds are popularly used in the making of engagement rings and anniversary rings. The engagement rings generally have a single solitaire diamond and the anniversary rings are three stoned. Some anniversary rings have a single emerald cut diamond with two round cut diamonds on the side, others have all the three emerald cut diamonds to signify the past, present and future of the couples. The rings are made of white gold, platinum or yellow gold.

Pendants made of diamonds are classic and charming. They can be worn with casual wear. These pendants are generally made of white gold.

Ear Rings- Emerald cut diamonds are used for making ear rings They are made of high clarity and high quality color diamonds of .40 ct. The metal used for making ear rings is white gold. The diamonds are set in prong setting.

Emerald Cut Diamond Jewellery worn by famous people

Melania Trump's Emerald Cut Engagement Ring:

Nicole Richie's Engagement Ring:

Paris Hilton's Emerald Ring:

Camilla Bowle's Emerald Diamond Ring

Thus these emerald cut diamonds have been famous for their natural clarity and colour and for their royalty. How can one miss to buy one such diamond?