DDG Ass #14 Grading Fancy Cut PDF

DDG Ass #14 Grading Fancy Cut Fancy Cut Diamonds : -Grading Fancy Cuts: -Fancy Cuts include round shapes in cutting styles that differ from the standard round brilliant as well as shapes other than round, referred to more specifically as fancy shapes. -When graders evaluate fancy cuts, they look at...

DDG Ass #14 Grading Fancy Cut Fancy Cut Diamonds : -Grading Fancy Cuts: -Fancy Cuts include round shapes in cutting styles that differ from the standard round brilliant as well as shapes other than round, referred to more specifically as fancy shapes. -When graders evaluate fancy cuts, they look at the same types of things—like color and symmetry—as they do for round brilliants. But there’s no universal agreement about what makes a fancy cut beautiful: It’s mostly a matter of personal taste. Fancy Cuts: - The word “cut” can refer to a gem’s proportions and finish, but it can also refer to shape and cutting style. - Shape refers to the face-up outline of a gem, and cutting style is the arrangement of its facets. -There are three major diamond cutting styles: brilliant cut, step cut, and mixed cut. -A brilliant cut with additional facets placed symmetrically is called a modified brilliant. -The face-up shape of a fashioned diamond is usually the first thing you notice about it making it a top selling point -Because they are all so different, each fancy cut has its own set of variables. Fancy cuts have some special shape components with special names. - The central area of the side of a pear, marquise, heart, or oval, where it curves out slightly, is called the belly. - This is an important location on a stone: It’s where the width is measured. -The area between the belly and the point is called the wing. -The rounded end of a pear or oval is called its head. -The curved edges between the head and the belly of a pear or oval are called shoulders. -The rounded portions of a heart shape are called lobes, and the V-shaped indentation between them is called the cleft. - French tips is a facet variation increases durability by replacing the large bezel facet at the point with star and upper half facets. -The bottom of a step, modified brilliant, or standard brilliant fancy cut, where the pavilion facets meet, is called the keel line. It runs the length of the stone and sometimes includes or passes through the culet. Description Shapes and Cutting Styles: -GIA laboratory developed a standard naming system to describe a diamond’s shape and cutting style -A basic description includes the name of the diamond’s shape followed by the name of its cutting style—for example, “Oval Brilliant.” -For a shape with beveled or rounded corners, the description also includes the tem “cut-cornered” or “round- cornered”—for example “Cut-Cornered Square.” - The term “modified” is used to describe other shape variations—for example, “Modified Pear.” -The term “modified” is also used to describe a brilliant cut that deviates from a standard brilliant in its facet arrangement. -A fancy-shaped brilliant is considered a standard brilliant even if the number of bezel, main, and half facets differ. -The success of the round brilliant inspired the creation of fancy-cut diamonds with brilliant-cut facet arrangements. Princess Cut and Radiant: -“Princess cut” is a trade term used to describe a square or rectangular modified brilliant, a cut developed in the late 1970s. Princess cuts surpass round brilliants in yield. (Round brilliants typically only retain about 50 percent.) -Princess cuts are popular in jewelry designs that call for either channel settings or invisible settings -The Radiant cut, patented in the late 1970s by Henry Grossbard, is a square or rectangular modified brilliant with beveled corners -Radiants retain about 60 percent of the rough from which they’re cut. Pear, Oval and Marquise: - The facet arrangement of the pear is a variation on the round brilliant cut. A long, narrow pear is sometimes called a pendeloque. - For large diamonds, elongated shapes such as the pear tend to look more graceful on the finger than rounds of the same weight. -The oval is a classic brilliant cut with an elliptical girdle outline. Its outline closely resembles the round, - The marquise is an elongated, elliptical brilliant cut with curved sides and pointed ends. It’s also called a navette, from the Latin for "ship," because its face-up outline resembles a little boat. -The marquise gained popularity in the 1970s, especially in bridal jewelry. Triangular and Heart: -Triangular brilliant cuts are also known as trillions. There are also proprietary triangular cuts called the Trielle and the Trilliant. -The heart is a brilliant cut with a heart-shaped face-up outline. The heart is a symbol of romance for many customers. Cushion and Other Cuts: - The cushion cut is a classic brilliant cut. It’s generally either rectangular or square, with slightly curved sides and rounded corners. An antique version of the cushion-cut brilliant is the old mine brilliant. - The half-moon resembles a round brilliant divided in half from table to culet, creating a half-circle face-up outline. Broken rounds are occasionally recut into half-moons. -The cut-cornered triangular is often called a shield in the trade because its outline resembles a warrior’s shield. The number of sides, as well as their lengths and angles, tends to vary. Antique - Cut: -many trend-setting designers have embraced these old cuts for inclusion in their jewelry -The antique diamond cuts most often revisited by designers are: Briolette—This rounded teardrop shape has triangular facets and no girdle. It typically dangles from an earring or a necklace. Rose—This antique cut features a flat base and triangular facets that come to a peak. It can have a round, triangular, or pear-shaped face-up outline. The rose was the most common cutting style before the round brilliant replaced it. Bead—This is a rounded, completely faceted diamond, drilled lengthwise for stringing. A strand of diamond beads can be a glittering alternative to a pearl strand. Designers also incorporate diamond beads as spacers in pearl strands. Rondelle—This diamond disk with faceted edges is often cut from extremely flat rough. Rondelles are typically used as ornamental spacers between colored stones or other elements in necklaces. -In addition, an antique cut’s toned-down brilliance can emphasize the pattern of the facet arrangement or draw attention to the shape of the diamond’s face-up outline -As demand for antique cuts increased among designers, diamond manufacturers began producing calibrated versions of them with many antique cuts being reproduced to modern specifications Step Cuts: - Step cuts have long, sleek lines and a subtle gleam. They came along in the early 1400s, long before brilliant cuts. -Also, most step cuts have a large table facet, which calls for a high standard of clarity for rough. -The most popular step cut is the emerald cut. The emerald cut’s four sides have beveled corners. - There are two, three, or four concentric rows of facets, parallel to the girdle, on the crown and pavilion. - the step-cut style emphasizes the diamond’s clarity. - if an emerald cut’s face-up outline is square, the shape is called a square emerald cut. -The baguette is a small, four-sided, step-cut diamond and were used mainly as accent stones, such as side diamonds for a round brilliant and were a popular style of the 1980s in the ballerina ring - A lozenge step cut is a four-sided cut with two narrow angles that give it an elongated “diamond” shape. - Trapeze-shaped step cuts have four-sided face-up outlines. Two of the sides are parallel, but of unequal length. -The triangular step cut is a logical shape for a macle, or flat piece of rough. -The Asscher Cut is a cut-cornered square or sometimes rectangular step cut, patented in the early 1900s. It’s the predecessor of the modern emerald cut, with wide corners that are nearly octagonal, a small table, high crown, and deep pavilion. What Graders Look For in Fancy Cuts - Grading fancy-cut diamonds is something of an art because there are so many variables. The grader must consider each stone’s separate parts in the context of its overall appearance. -People are attracted to fancy cuts for reasons that are likely to be just as emotional as they are practical and quantifiable. Clarity: -Most of the rules for clarity grading are the same for round brilliants and fancy cuts. -Because of its large table and the fact that it has a different pattern of reflections than a round brilliant, a step cut tends to reveal even minor characteristics. -Graders usually study the tips of these cuts(pear,heart,marquise) carefully, since inclusions can present durability as well as clarity concerns. Color: -In most cases, color is graded in the same way for fancy cuts and rounds. -the grader bases the grade on the amount of color seen in a diagonal direction, with the diamond at a 45- degree angle to the line of sight and consider face up color Table, Crown, Girdle: -For fancy shapes, graders measure table size and stone width, and then calculate table percentage. For most fancy shapes, they use the largest table size, measured across the stone’s width. -After measuring table size and stone width, graders use the following formula to calculate table percentage: Table Size ÷ Stone Width × 100 = Table Percentage -Large tables—sometimes over 80 percent—are common for some fancy cuts. - Graders estimate the crown angle for fancy cuts, then they assign special descriptive terms: acceptable, slightly shallow, very shallow, slightly steep, and very steep. - Graders judge girdle thickness and condition the same way in fancy cuts as in round brilliants and use the same terms. When the girdle is not scalloped, they consider the thickness of the entire girdle. Total Depth Percentage: - For fancy shapes, they use the stone’s width instead of average girdle diameter in the percentage calculation. -Graders use the following calculation, and then round the result to the nearest tenth of a percent: Stone Depth ÷ Stone Width × 100 = Total Depth Percentage Pavilion Depth: - graders consider face-up appearance and the crown height to pavilion depth relationship. -First they look at stones face-up to see if they’re reasonably brilliant. Appearance can indicate whether the pavilion is deep or shallow. -Next, graders evaluate pavilion depth by looking at the stone in profile and visually comparing the crown height to the pavilion depth. -To be well proportioned, a gem’s pavilion should be about 2.5 to 4.5 times the depth of its crown. -grader decide whether a pavilion is acceptable, slightly shallow, very shallow, slightly deep, or very deep. Bow Tie and Bulge: -To assess a bow-tie, graders look at the stone face-up, without magnification, under normal lighting conditions. - A bow-tie can be light gray to black: The darker it is, the more it affects the diamond’s appearance and value. -If a bow-tie covers a large amount of the stone, or if it’s very dark, it’s graded “obvious.” Smaller or lighter- toned bow-ties can be graded “noticeable” or “slight.” -To assess pavilion bulge, graders use 10x magnification and look at the stone’s profile, across both its length and its width. There should be an even, gentle arc from girdle to culet. -Bulge increases unplanned light leakage and makes the stone difficult to set and adds to the weight Culet Size : -The culet is sometimes elongated in fancy cuts, so graders only consider the culet’s width as a factor in its size. -Graders judge a fancy cut’s culet size the same way they do a round brilliant’s—by looking through the table— and use the same terms. Shape Appeal: - Graders judge symmetry and shape appeal differently. When they judge symmetry, they consider each diamond individually, comparing its parts to its whole. -When graders evaluate shape appeal, they consider a diamond’s appearance in relation to other gems of the same shape and cutting style. -Diamonds that remain within this range of appeal are more likely to sell than those that depart radically from the standard for their particular shape and style. -Here are some of the most common shape appeal considerations and their abbreviations: Narrow corners on shapes with beveled corners (NC) Wide corners on shapes with beveled corners (WC) High shoulders on pears and ovals (HS) Flat wings on marquises, pears, and hearts (FW) Bulged wings on marquises, pears, and hearts (BW) Undefined points on marquises, pears, and hearts (UP) Misshapen lobes on hearts (ML) Length to Width Ratios: - A Another form of appeal is length-to-width ratio is another quality characteristic of fancy cuts. To calculate it, a grader measures the length and width of the stone, and then divides the length by the width. - The result, rounded to the nearest hundredth, becomes the first number in a ratio where the value for width is one. Length-to-Width Ratio = (Length ÷ Width):1 -most fancy-cut diamond buyers believe that a ratio alone isn’t enough to convey a diamond’s beauty or marketability. They prefer to see stones for themselves before deciding to buy. Finish: -Finish is graded basically the same way in both rounds and fancy cuts. As with rounds, the category consists of two parts: polish and symmetry. -Polish Variations are the same as rounds, fancy-cut diamond polish is rated Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor. -Fancy shapes have a property called line symmetry. Most shapes have at least one line of symmetry that runs vertically along the length, creating two equal parts. -Many shapes have two lines of symmetry—one that runs vertically along the length and another across the width—creating four equal parts. - A culet that is off center will affect the diamond’s symmetry rating,however if placed too high or too low so it detracts from the stone’s appearance. This can occur on pear- and heart-shaped diamonds, where symmetry is evaluated along one line. - As with round brilliants, graders evaluate the overall visibility of any symmetry variations and base the final grade on the diamond’s appearance in a 10x loupe. Why Grade Fancy Cuts: - the grading report is still a useful guide for the potential buyer. It’s also an important record of an individual diamond’s identifying characteristics. Fancy Cut Trends: -Today, fancy cuts maintain their popularity against the still-dominant round for consumer looking for a unique look