In this blog post we will discuss the last of the Four Cs which is known as the diamond’s cut. The cut can also be referred to as the diamond’s “make” and is extremely important because it directly influences the diamond’s brilliance, or sparkle. Obviously, when it comes to diamonds, sparkle is what catches the eye.

• No Matter What, A Diamond That Doesn’t Sparkle Isn’t Worth Buying

It’s certainly possible to find a lower priced diamond at one jeweler versus another. This could be true even if the diamond is identical in carat weight, color and clarity. Some jewelers purchase diamonds that are cut too shallow or too deep and as a result this causes the light that enters the stone to leak out the bottom, or out the sides of the stone. The stone appears dull and dark to the visible eye and as a result, highly undesirable. A diamond that doesn’t sparkle is never worth purchasing.

• What Are The Parts of a Cut?

Cut addresses the number, placement, shape and angling of the facets that create a polished diamond. The facets cause the diamond to function as a prism that captures and reflects the light inside the diamond. The quality of the cut is determined by the height of the crown relative to the depth of the pavilion and the width of the table.

• Appearance

The way a stone is cut can affect how a diamond looks in a number of ways. If a diamond has a very deep cut then it will end up looking smaller than a diamond that is the same weight that is cut well. In the same fashion, a diamond that has a shallow cut will appear larger than another diamond of the same weight that is cut well. Either way, a diamond that is cut either too deep or too shallow is typically undesirable.

In this blog post we will be taking a look at color, and what you should look at when evaluating a diamond.

• Why is less color more valuable?

The less color that can found in a diamond is considered to be more rare, and as such, more valuable. As with everything there is an exception to this rule when it comes to “fancy colored diamonds” which can come in blue, pink, red, yellow, green or brown. Many of these colors are exceptionally rare and are collector’s items.

Colorless is a hard thing to wrap your head around. Because most diamonds that are mined have a good deal of color within the body of the stone, very few are considered completely colorless. Think about the “ideal” classic diamond color as a glass of pure water.

A colorless stone lets the diamond reflect and refract light more cleanly. White light enters the diamond and part of the light ray is reflected back to your eye, and the rest penetrates the stone. The light that penetrates the stone bounces around toward the center of the stone as dictated by the facets and finally bounces back to the surface. A diamond acts much like a prism and refracts white light into the full color spectrum. The less color that is present in the stone allows for greater refraction.

• Grading Diamonds

Diamonds and their color are graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) with letters ranging from D (completely colorless) to Z (light yellow).

• Color, More than Meets the Eye

Color is most certainly one of the hardest factors to evaluate in a diamond. Everyone sees color differently, and as such, it becomes a fairly subjective part of the grading process. The differences in color between two diamonds are extremely subtle, and might be barely visible to an untrained eye. Even experts will compare an ungraded stone to one that has been previously graded to properly determine the color of a stone. The reason for this is because differences in color can make a huge difference in price.

• Fluorescence.

Some diamonds exhibit a blue tint in daylight or under fluorescent lighting.  When viewing the diamond under normal incandescent lights the blue will disappear.  The blue tint is the result of the degree of fluorescence within the stone itself. It is not considered either good, or bad, but simply a natural characteristic of the stone.

It is 10 pm in Denver, CO.  I am currently in Tel Aviv, Israel where it is 7 am the next day, and I am wide awake and ready to go to work and grab a bite to eat.  I love Mediterranean breakfasts. As I eat the many tasty foods, I speak with my wife on my cell before she goes to sleep. She tells me of a snowstorm going on in Denver. In Tel Aviv it is sunny and warm with robin-egg-blue skies and a gentle breeze coming in off the Mediterranean Sea. She jokes that I plan my trips overseas to avoid shoveling. Her voice is the first voice I hear in the morning, and the last I hear before I go to sleep while on my many overseas trips to Israel and India.

Now my attention turns to the reason I am here. I go through my check lists one last time. I am the Loose Diamond Buyer for Shane Co. I work for Tom Shane, so I have to be prepared.  Buying diamonds is one of the major callings in my life.

At this moment Tom is in Bangkok, Thailand buying colored sapphires. We exchange a quick email and I jump into a taxi and am off to Ramat Gan, the industrial center of Tel Aviv. I have made over 80 trips for Shane Co. in over 13 years as Tom’s diamond buyer in order to supply our stores such as our Nashville location. I even lived in Tel Aviv for a year and a half. That was an interesting time and I will tell you about it another time.

As I enter the chaotically managed security of the Israeli Diamond Bourse I am instantly recognized and fast tracked through to the elevators that will take me to many of the elite diamond cutters in the world. As I enter the first office I am greeted with a hug by the owner of one of the diamond cutting firms. Working with the owners of these firms allows Shane Co. to have buying privilege shared by few. I like to say our diamonds are from the hand of the maker to the hand of our customer. We catch up a little and he tells me how his son is doing in the Israeli Defense Forces and the challenges he and his wife are having with their teenage daughter.  Each country I visit has its own cultural nuances and in this business knowing the unique etiquette for each country and remaining firm to our needs as a company are one of the many interesting aspects of my job.

Now, it is time for business. The diamonds I will be carefully examining have been held in a safe just for Shane Co. I begin thoroughly evaluating hundreds of loose diamonds with my special loupe and a pair of tweezers that I have had for years (funny how you become attached to such things). The diamond offices can get very noisy at times. Negotiations can get a little fierce, but that is all part of the job. More than anything it is the Shane’s family reputation and the familiarity that they have with these diamond-cutting companies that allows me to be successful.

Looking at hundreds of diamonds I reject a notable percentage for reasons of our standards of quality. This is sometimes exasperating to the firms I work with. Because of the fact that I know these diamonds will be purchased from us for major life events like engagements and anniversaries, I bear down and select the brightest and best for each carat weight and quality. The better we buy, the better our customers buy.

Comparing the measures of diamond quality is not just letters and numbers for us. Two diamonds can have the same carat weight, color and clarity but look very, very different. We buy for exact quality specs but Shane Co. diamonds must have the “wow” factor of brightness and beauty.  Every diamond we buy is hand selected, which means that we closely analyze every diamond, unlike most of the corporate jewelers.

This job is intensely personal to me. The diamonds I buy today will be hand selected by one of our customers as they choose both a dazzling loose diamond and one of the hundreds of mountings to create something wholly unique for the one they love.

As the business day draws to a close I am slightly fatigued. Back from a quick dinner, I am just about ready for bed. I have a chuckle as my wife bemoans the continuing snow and wishes me a good night’s sleep although with jet lag we all know that is hardly possible.