What does a diamond's 'cut' mean?

What does a diamond's 'cut' mean?

John Cordova (Vice President of Human Resources, Robbins Bros.) gives expert video advice on: What does a diamond's 'carat weight' mean?; What does a diamond's 'clarity' mean?; What is the diamond clarity grading system? and more...

A diamond's cut actually refers to two things. First of all, the diamond's cut refers to it's shape, it's outline, heart shape, keys, rounds, and pears. A diamond's cut also refers to proportions. In the industry, sometimes we hear the term make and that tells you how well a diamond is cut. When a diamond is cut too deeply, what happens is light goes in through the top, leaks out at the bottom and you get a diamond with a very dark centre. It's not very attractive. When a diamond is cut too shallow, the sides are very open, light again goes into the top and leaks out through the bottom and you get what's called a fish out which is a dark circle surrounded by a white ring. However, when a diamond is cut properly, the light goes in through the top, bounces around from facet to facet, it shoots back out at you and that's when you get a diamond that you fall in love with, just dazzles you and cut is extremely important when determining the value of the diamond.