Ideal Cuts
What You Should Know
About:
The so called
'Ideal cut' and 'Hearts & Arrows cut'
Before all this technical, 'scientific stuff in the form of grading
reports came along,
diamonds were purchased by wholesalers and sold to their clients, the jewellers,
on the basis of their beauty and
ability to seduce the customer. |
The parameters used by
us all, in those days, some 30 years ago were sparkle or life, brilliance or scintillation
as it can also be put. But also the 'spread' or 'face-up' or if you like the 'show' factor.
Our jewellery clients
wanted primarily and justifiably a diamond which would both sparkle and face up very well
when set in an item of jewellery, they also paid more for this more 'attractive' and more
easily saleable stone.
Around 65 years ago a
certain Mr Tolkowski, being in the business, wanted to see, as a mathematician, if it was
possible to establish a scientific basis for the most perfect cut, based on the diamond's
ability to refract light.
Certain parameters
were established and are today the basis of what we, diamond cutters have known for over
100 years. they were as follows:
Table
diameter: 53 to 66%
Crown height : 11 to 16%
Pavillion depth: 42 to 45% |
There is a difference
from what the human eye is able to perceive and what certain specialised scientific
instruments are able to determine.
In Tolkowski's time
some 65 years ago, using the instruments he had developed, he determined that the perfect
parameters were between those as set at above.
These were based on
human observation, using scientific means to prove the point and at the time Tolkowski was
praised by the industry for his work in this field.
As time went on,
equipment developed and it was then possible to determine, to a more precise level a more
precise degree of scientific correctness for the diamond crystal's light refractive
capabilities.
This presented to us,
diamond cutters, no real interest as we did not firstly have the precise technical
polishing equipment and most importantly, the market did not require it either as all was
well and customers satisfied.
Again time went on and
our technical tools developed, mostly to help us cut more quickly and efficiently.
Diamond laboratories
opened in Europe in
1974, may I say at this point, that we opened the very first
European laboratory in Europe, 'Diamexpertise' and at one time even employed Mr Margel,
President and founder of the internationally reknown laboratory EGL, as our director, he
later left in 1976 and started up, very successfully, the EGL laboratory operation, he was
and is still a good friend of ours.
Also 1976 saw the
birth of the HRD and IGI laboratories.
To
get on with the facts, from these days onwards the 'investment'
diamond business started to take off. Many individuals, not in our industry,
started to gravitate towards it seeing profit as they too, being able to 'read'
a diamond report could start selling diamonds to the public as 'investments'
and not necessarily only for jewellery purposes. |
The demand, through
slick marketing and advertising, grew and grew and for a time, in
1982/83 went to
silly heights and then crashed.
Many lost enormous
amounts of money, and today prices still reflect those of after this crash plus maybe an
added 20 to 25%, by the way at their height prices were 300% higher in the better
qualities, than they are on average today.
1987 brought about the far eastern market climb
and during those post crash years there was a type of glut of unsaleable diamonds waiting
for a buyer, the Japanese wholesalers, at least the clever ones, did not wish cheaper
stones to be brought in by competitors so had to do something, they decided to up the
parameters and through marketing and advertising let it be known that special, 'better',
more perfect cut stones, were available.
This 'perfection'
thing appealed to the growing Japanese diamond consumer who could not get enough of it and
prices following demand grew.... the problem was SUPPLY.
Now
that's where we came in, indeed we were
approached by a top Japanese wholesale dealer with whom we entered a manufacturing
partnership in order to cut these exclusive diamonds. |
For years we had a
near monopoly on their manufacture and the world's biggest workforce exclusively cutting
to these high parameters so we know what we are talking about.
This demand was
artificially created in order to control the Japanese market, not through a beautifully
cut diamond but through a perfectly, over precisely cut diamond offering nothing else
to the consumer than perfect light refractive capability only perceptible by using highly
sophisticated equipment and sold with a certificate mirroring these facts to anyone who
could read.
In
1994/95 the
Japanese market started to fall, many of these diamonds did not find buyers and were being
expensively stocked in the hope of a return to better times, unfortunately until today the
market is still flat.
Then in
1995/96 came
the Internet, the perfect solution was available, lists or virtual stocks of diamonds
could be offered to the public, who could read what they were buying, all that was needed
was for the public to do their research in order to make an informed choice amongst the
diamonds on these 'lists'.
No easier task for the
internet putting the answers online, over informing the public so they would think that
they were getting something better when in fact they would be purchasing something that
the jewellers, who have always been purchasing diamonds but not the so called 'ideal'
ones, did not really want. Their idea of the 'ideal' cut, is the cut which offers
BOTH excellent light refraction and perfect 'spread' to the
consumer and can be 'visually' appreciated, in an item of jewellery by the customer. They
have been purchasing this cut for the past 70 odd years, diamonds cut 'intelligently'
saving weight when necessary thus reducing the price and offering perfect 'sparkle' and
'spread' as well, this to the benefit of all concerned especially the consumer.
This
is why 'online' dealers have been
talking up
the value of an over precisely
cut diamond and have financially profited from it. |
Today misinformed clients online, perhaps similar to yourselves
are asking for these stones, we can supply them no problem but
we feel that as one of the first true diamond cutting companies
to have a presence online, some nine and half years ago, that we must inform properly, hence
the reason we spend so much time corresponding with our customers.
Hopefully you will
have learned something from this explanation of the facts as we see them and will apply
these facts to a better judgement of the situation and make an informed decision of what
is required, after all your diamond ring is an important purchase so you deserve real
value for money.
A so
called 'Ideal' cut diamond will look, on average about
20% smaller
at equal weight and equal sparkle to the 'perfectly' cut diamond purchased and cut
for over 60 years by expert professionals within the industry. |
The so called
'Ideal' cut parameters:
To
the expert diamond cutter and top international jewellers the best parameters
should be between the following proportions to guarantee BOTH perfect
LIGHT REFRACTION to the naked eye and a beautiful 'SPREAD' or 'FACE-UP' as
well: |
The
'perfect' cut (sometimes called The Antwerp cut)
For more information please click
on the link below
http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/news/2004/020704story.html
_______________________________________
Please contact us if you
want more details.
|
