Our overview of diamond evaluations

Please note: This text explanation accompanies the personalized Diamond Evaluation Certificate with each stone we offer. Click image at right to enlarge.

Round Brilliant Cuts (GIA standards)

We pride ourselves on quality diamonds. Of the 4Cs — cut, color, carat and clarity — we believe that “cut” is the most significant to the diamond's beauty.

By cut, we refer to the proportions, symmetry and polish of the diamond. These factors determine the fire and brilliance a diamond displays. A diamond with even the highest rating for color and clarity will not be beautiful if it is poorly cut.

The Diamond Evaluation Certificate rates precisely how well this diamond is cut. Eight different criteria are analyzed. To help you understand what these numbers signify, each is referenced to GIA standards.

Each aspect is also rated “ideal,” “excellent,” “very good,” or “good.” A diamond with “ideal” and “excellent” ratings would be considered one of high brilliance and fire. A diamond rated “ideal” in all aspects — a rarity — would be of the highest sparkle and scintillation.

We stand by our reputation to provide each customer with a quality diamond at a superior value. Virtually every stone GBI sells has either an “excellent” or “ideal” cut grade.

Round Brilliant Cuts (AGS standards)

We pride ourselves on quality diamonds. Of the 4Cs — cut, color, carat and clarity — we believe that “cut” is the most significant to the diamond's beauty.

By cut, we refer to the proportions, symmetry and polish of the diamond. These factors determine the fire and brilliance a diamond displays. A diamond with even the highest rating for color and clarity will not be beautiful if it is poorly cut.

The Diamond Evaluation Certificate rates precisely how well this diamond is cut. Five different criteria are analyzed. To help you understand what these numbers signify, each is referenced to AGS standards.

Each aspect is also rated “0,” “1,” “2,” “3,” and “4,” with “0” the highest standard. A diamond with “0” and “1” ratings would be considered one of high brilliance and fire. A diamond rated “0” in all aspects — a rarity — would be of the highest sparkle and scintillation.

We stand by our reputation to provide each customer with a quality diamond at a superior value.

Fancy Shapes

Marquise, Pear, Oval

We pride ourselves on quality diamonds. We also feel it is essential to sell diamonds of high brilliance. With that goal in mind, we are very careful to select only finely cut and proportioned diamonds that have the sparkle that makes this gemstone so special.

A fancy shape diamond, unlike the round brilliant cut, has no specific cut guidelines to determine its grade. However, there are two very important criteria we keep in mind:

Shape Appeal It is important to select the shaping of the diamond you find most apealing. A marquise shaped too short may not be pretty. A pear shape too long will look out of proportion. We search for fancies that keep these variables in line to maximize beauty.

Bow Tie Because of the elongated nature of fancy shape diamonds, there can be a tendency for some light to fail to return to the eye, which is commonly referred to as a “bow tie.” We try especially hard to keep the effect at an absolute minimum. By doing so, we ensure that the diamond will have maximum fire.

We stand by our reputation to provide each customer with a quality diamond at a superior value.

Princess Cuts

The princess cut is a relatively new cut in the jewelry world. In 1979 the quadrillion cut diamond was introduced. The name quadrillion gave way to princess cut shortly thereafter.

The basis for this shape is to maximize yield from the original piece of diamond rough. The princess cut can be highly brilliant making it a very popular alternative to the round brilliant. However, it is important to understand a significant drawback to this particular shape. Depth percentages can vary greatly from well made to poorly proportioned princess cuts. We sell only princess cuts with depth percentages lower than 75%.

The benefit to you is a larger looking diamond and one of much higher brilliance. We endeavor to sell not only diamonds of high quality, but diamonds cut to precise proportions which will yield the highest possible sparkle and scintillation.

We stand by our reputation to provide each customer with a quality diamond at a superior value.