Unfortunately, when most people look at a diamond, the carat size usually makes the biggest impression. In reality, the cut has a big impact on how big a diamond appears and the light pattern it shows. It also largely determines its brilliance – how much light it returns – and its dispersion – how much inner “fire” it shows. If the cut is done poorly, it can ruin these most valuable aspects of diamonds – not something you want!
These days, most diamonds are cut with lasers, so most diamonds should fall in the Very Good to Excellent range.
The only reason diamonds ever have a less than excellent cut is because the diamond cutter is trying to save weight. Cutting diamonds is usually a compromise between saving weight and maintaining good brightness, pattern and symmetry.
A diamond with a larger carat size simply fetches a higher price, even though it has a slightly lower cut grade. In other words, although a diamond with a lower cut grade will drop slightly in price, a larger carat size will more than make up for that deficit. However, if the cut is so poor that the diamond looks dumpy, its value would be diminished.
CAUTION: If you buy a stone with a less than excellent cut, you may have bought a thick stone that hides the weight but does not appear larger compared to smaller or equally sized stones. In addition, a poorly cut stone may also have less brilliance and fire than a comparable well-cut stone.
Recommendation: “ideal” & “excellent” (for round white diamonds), at least “very good”.
The cut is the most important criterion,
more important than Polish & Symmetry!
Poorly cut diamonds can appear lackluster.
Cut contributes directly to the appearance of a diamond because it describes:???????