Hearts & Arrows
The shape of the diamond crystal determines the shape of the finished diamond. Cutting and polishing are the only aspect of diamond quality grading that is controlled by man. Fine quality cutting and finishing unleashes the diamond's fire and brilliance for optimum beauty. Ideal proportions for the round brilliant cut have been mathematically formulated to enable a diamond to be cut precisely for maximum brilliance.
The shape of the diamond crystal determines the shape of the finished diamond. Cutting and polishing are the only aspect of diamond quality grading that is controlled by man. Fine quality cutting and finishing unleashes the diamond's fire and brilliance for optimum beauty. Ideal proportions for the round brilliant cut have been mathematically formulated to enable a diamond to be cut precisely for maximum brilliance.
 Hearts |
 Arrows |
"Hearts and Arrows" - The Best of the Best: Taking ideal cutting to the extreme, when all the facets are polished to precisely match each other, and their dimensions are within miniscule tolerances, diamonds will exhibit a phenomenon called "hearts and arrows". To see the "hearts and arrows", a diamond must be viewed through a "Hearts and Arrows" scope. Seeing the "hearts and arrows" patterns emerge from a diamond will ensure that the stone will consistently display maximum fire and scintillation.
Ideal cut diamonds are cut to widely accepted proportions and angles; however, sometimes the cutter does not spend the extra time finishing the stone in ideal fashion. Finish includes reaching the degree to which the finish of the surface approaches optical perfection. A well polished diamond shows no polish lines or other surface blemishes under 10x magnification. Finish also addresses the symmetry of the stone, which includes the exactness of placement and shaping of opposing facets and other portions of a finished diamond. Symmetry is judged on the basis of the degree to which the shaping and placement of facets yield exact mirror images of opposite features. The hearts and arrows pattern is only possible when exceptional symmetry exists. As mentioned before, hearts and arrows diamonds are "super symmetry ideal cuts".
Time and money is a big consideration in the diamond manufacturing business. As outlined before, diamonds cut to ideal proportions cost more. If you are not prepared to compensate the cutter for (painstakingly) grinding away valuable rough material don't buy an ideal cut diamond. Less than 1% of all diamonds become ideal cuts. Hearts and arrows are exceedingly rare, as even fewer are cut to this new higher standard.
Hearts and arrows are not for everyone.
This web site was designed to be an invaluable tool to instruct the discerning buyer about the merits of buying cut. There is a lot of good information on the Web regarding color, clarity and carat weight. Unfortunately, there is much misinformation about diamond cutting and specifically what constitutes an ideal cut.