Despite all of the various monikers used to describe the ideal cut diamonds that we sell such as GIA Excellent, AGS Ideal 0, and Hearts & Arrows, the visual performance is primarily dictated by the proportions and the precision of craftsmanship that we insist upon and not the lab which graded the diamond nor the absence or presence of a pattern of hearts and arrows.

A few years ago an independent gemological laboratory determined that the average light return of a round brilliant cut diamond with AGS-4 Good proportions was approximately 70% while the average light return for diamond with an overall cut rating of AGS Ideal 0 was in the range of 96 – 98% depending on the precision of facet alignment and the combination of crown and pavilion angle.

Most people are able to separate ideal cut diamonds from non-ideal cut counterparts from a perspective of visual performance because the ideal cut diamonds simply sparkle more. Most people however would be significantly challenged to distinguish between zero ideal cut diamonds of similar carat weight, color and clarity regardless of whether those diamonds were graded as GIA Excellent or AGS Ideal 0 and whether they exhibited a pattern of Hearts & Arrows or not.

< Prev		Next >